The Viral God
by Dante Fernandez
Summary: Naruto was never meant to be a hero, nor a villain. He would carve his own path. He would choose his own fate. And maybe, he'd gain freedom. He would leave this dying world behind. Harem, Incest.
1. A Dark Beginning

Chapter One: A Dark Beginning

Konahagakure no sato. The most powerful village in the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

It was night, the full moon hung in the sky, surrounded by stars, of many colors, red, blue, white, and yellow. All was at peace.

It was never meant to last.

A being of unfathomable power attacked. It's form was of a great fox, nine tails swayed in a hypnotic yet terrifying manner. The fox assaulted the village mercilessly, entire blocks fell to the swings of its strangely human-like arms, it would grab and either crush those unfortunate enough to be caught in its grasp to red paste and crunched bone. It made no distinction between man or woman. The old and sick. Not even children were spared.

The village leader. The Yondaime Hokage would soon save the village, everyone hoped, everyone pleaded. But the village would not be saved without a sacrifice. That of his child. It's very humanity, even its soul would be sacrificed to protect Konoha. That was the price of the Shinigami. And yet, Death was not without a sense of mercy. Ancient and eldritch it was, it pitied the child. And would bestow upon him/her a gift, from another reality entirely. All it needed to do was acquire the gift.

* * *

(?)

Alexandra (Alex) Mercer aka Zeus knew that this day was coming. No...not Alex Mercer. She died a week and a half ago. She was just a creation of Mercer. She was simply an eldritch abomination. Neither living nor dead. She did not bleed. Bullets merely passed through her or bounced off her form entirely. Not even the clothes on her back were real. Just biomass molded and shaped to resemble clothing. It'd be more accurate to call her an It. She looked to a mirror on the helicopter's dashboard, a gray hood concealed a majority of her head. She could see dark brown hair under the hood. Blue-silver eyes stared back at her. They weren't even truly her eyes

She looked away, back towards the aircraft carrier, where she had just consumed both of her greatest enemies yet. The Supreme Hunter, the evolved form of the parasite that once plagued her. It once referred to itself as an "intelligent cancer". Then, the leader of Blackwatch, General Peter Randall. She smirked then, an odd sight for someone like her. Consuming someone granted her their memories, skills, everything that made them was stripped from their very soul. Though she might be exaggerating about the soul part considering she was essentially just a colony of Blacklight cells formed into a single entity.

Randall, in a last-ditch effort to eliminate the virus that very nearly overtook Manhattan, had obtained a thermonuclear device, and had planned to detonate it in the heart of the city. Everything would be annihilated. Including Dana. Her sister (or was she?) the one thing that tied her to the life she once thought the led. She had helped her so much... Then the original Mercer committed an atrocity that would never be forgiven. She released the Blacklight virus. A bio-weapon capable of horrifying damage. A nuke might reduce a few mile radius of land to an inhospitable crater and spread radiation around for a few more miles.

But a virus? It could spread. It could traverse entire continents with the advent of worldwide air travel. A single infected host could potentially spread it to a major population center. And the bodies would pile up. Blacklight was unique in that it was entirely impossible to create a vaccine for. Mercer had spliced the genetic code that offered the common cold it's immunity to every attempt to cure or vaccinate, into the Blacklight virus. With no vaccine or cure option available, the armed forces would be forced to euthanize infected. Obviously, some people would be opposed to that, dissent would blossom into existence, eventually metamorphosing into outright hostility and violence, the military would fighting a two front war, killing any infected in an attempt to prevent any more spread of the disease, and then there would be the resistance effort, the soldiers would likely break under the duress of being forced to kill their own countrymen, and eventually, society would collapse entirely, anarchy would reign. And the virus would spread further still. Until nothing remained but corpses. Genius.

But it was not meant to be. The virus was released on domestic soil. And nearly everyone in Manhattan would die because of it. She was the virus. When Mercer had broken the vial containing the Blacklight virus in Penn Station, it entered her body through the bullet wounds in her chest. Mercer's fresh corpse was consumed nearly instantly, every cell, every tissue, even the bones were broken down into their basest components, Biomass.

But there was no more time to reminiscence about the past, she had arrived. The plan was simplicity itself. Drop the nuke into the Atlantic Ocean a few miles off the coast, then get the fuck back to Manhattan and hopefully, she would get to watch the fireworks. She gently pulled back on the control stick, until the helicopter came to a stop. She glanced down at a small lever, with a blinking light above it. "CARGO RELEASE" was written underneath it in a rather annoying shade of bright orange.

She thumbed the lever, and the nuke was dropped into the sea below.

'Time to get the hell out of here.'

Thought Alex.

She jerked the stick and the helicopter was immediately turned away from the nuke, and he headed with full speed back towards Manhattan. She glanced down at her wrist, she had taken a digital stopwatch from one of the many dead soldiers back at the carrier. It read "00:36". 36 seconds left until detonation. She could see the carrier on the horizon. 22 seconds. The Empire State Building was visible now. It's spire light blinked red, slicing through the dense fog. 12 seconds. She wouldn't make it to a safe distance. 5. She would die here. 4. She'd never get to see Dana again. 3. No...it didn't matter. She'd never accept her for what she is. 2. She is a monster. 1. _She deserved to die._ **0.**

All Mercer knew then, was a bright light, an unbearable heat, and the strange sensation of feeling her entire body liquefy under all the force of the sun.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Battery Park_

The mushroom cloud was visible to all in Manhattan. The fireball lit up the night, brighter than the sun, the moon, and all the other stars in the sky combined. A reporter hurriedly snapped a photo of the cloud, it would make for an excellent front page photo! A mother and her children stared, awed by the light, and the sound. A priest looked to the cloud and uttered a fearful prayer for all souls in Manhattan.

Elsewhere, the helicopter had crash landed near Battery Park. Mercer was no more. Just a few bits and pieces of black and red biomass. A crow landed near a larger puddle. In another world, the crow would be consumed and Mercer would be reborn. But not here. Death had other plans. The Shinigami appeared above the crow. It's baleful yellow eyes glared at it. The crow didn't stand a chance. It dropped dead before it could attempt to make a meal of the puddle. The Shinigami's hand, an inhuman pale gray, made contact with the puddle. It was swiftly turned into a simple black and red orb. It resembled a marble in appearance, with an odd red aura surrounding it. The Shinigami placed the orb into its vestments and made off to the Shinobi World. Mercer in tow.

* * *

 _Hi no Kuni, Konahagakure no sato_

"Minato, don't!" Kushina's desperate cries for her child were not heeded. Minato had her child, her precious little baby, in hand and was planning to seal the Kyuubi into him/her.

'No!'

Try as she might, she was far too exhausted, her body too damaged by the forceful removal of the Kyuubi, she was effectively paralyzed from the waist down. She was powerless to stop this. She could do nothing but watch in mute horror, as Minato summoned the Shinigami. It's form hung over him, his soul in its grasp.

"SHIKI FUJIN!"

The Kyuubi was robbed of its Yin chakra, and it was made evident by its sudden decrease in size. The Sharingan, once dominating it's eyes had vanished shortly after the Shinigami appeared. Fear was now evident in its crimson gaze.

"FUIN!"

The Shinigami's hand impaled Minato then, depositing the Yin chakra in his body. It then rushed towards the Kyuubi. Minato slumped forward, his soul ripped from his body. His face was skeletal, his skin morphing into a pallor, that one would find on a months old corpse. The soul was then consumed by the Shinigami, a noticeable blue light, shining through its throat.

The hand grasped the Kyuubi fully then, a seal coming into existence on Naruto's stomach, and the dark red Yang chakra of the Kyuubi was now being siphoned into it. But the fox would not go down without a fight. It raised a paw, and a claw was extended towards the newborn. It would not be sealed again! It would have its freedom!

Kushina would not stand for it. A burst of adrenaline surged through her veins, and she leaped into the path of the claw. Pain. Agony. A spray of crimson decorated the grass, as well as Naruto. Its eyes opened then. And Kushina saw an intelligence, a comprehension that was entirely unsuited for a newborn. It looked towards her.

Those blue-silver eyes... that hair that matched ashes. Kushina so desperately wanted to say her last words to him/her. A mother's loving words. But it was not meant to be. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker, her vision dimming more and more. She was released from the claw, for it was no longer there. The Kyuubi was sealed into the boy. Her last vision was of the Shinigami lowering its hand to Naruto, a strange black and red orb in its grasp, before darkness overcame her. And then a piercing light.

* * *

It was a few years after the Kyuubi attacked Konahagakure, the damage had been repaired... mostly. There were still areas around the village closed off to the public because of the Kyuubi's poisonous chakra having contaminated the area. They weren't difficult to locate, signs stating that the area was unsafe for human beings. A more physical sign was the dozens of dead trees dotting the contaminated areas, there were even what appeared to be charred skeletons strewn about the landscape as well, so corroded they were now almost entirely unrecognizable.

But the village itself was thankfully left untouched by the toxic energy, only the surrounding forests were affected. The populace was not so lucky unfortunately. Expecting mothers were horrified to see their children born with a multitude of deformities or were outright stillborn. Young children suffered from debilitating conditions, like chronic arthritis, sclerosis, and their immune systems were crippled from the fox's chakra permeating their developing bodies, rendering them far more vulnerable to disease and infection.

The amount of villagers and shinobi killed in the initial attack paled in comparison to the death toll not a few months later. Nearly 25% of the civilian population either died, or left permanently disabled. 5% of the shinobi forces were left permanently disabled. It was the singular worst tragedy to strike the village since it's founding. Combine a spike in suicides, and nearly 7% of the over 50,000 people living in Konoha died in the following year.

In an effort to calm the civilians, the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, spoke to the entire village in a monumental speech, stating that the fact that Konoha still stood was a testament to the strength of the village as a whole, and eventually life returned to at least a semblance of normal. And then the information about the Kyuubi's true fate was leaked to the public. The leaker was never found, however a man presumed to be the leaker was found dead in his apartment within the wealthy district of Konoha, with a suicide note beside him, making mentions of the "demon child" and how the people of Konoha needed to band together to eliminate the Kyuubi once and for all, by killing it's "reincarnation", Naruto Uzumaki.

However, fear overruled the civilian's fury, and people were far too afraid to attack Naruto en masse. A few brave individuals would attempt to take his life, but they would mysteriously disappear. No body would be found, just a copious amount of blood, roughly equating to the total amount of blood within the human body. These disappearances stank heavily of foul play, but no suspect would ever be found.

Naruto was now four and a half years old.

* * *

 _Konohagakure, Red light district_

Naruto never knew happiness. Not in his short life. Almost everyone in the village hated him. And those who became violent, he...ate them. He didn't know how else to describe it. He would somehow shove his tiny arms through their chest or merely make contact with them, and then... _tendrils_ would emerge from the point of contact, penetrate the skin, and begin to break down the cells that made up the body, until they were reduced to simple organic molecules, and the tendrils, now fattened would return to his body. He would feel strangely satiated, and then came the _memories_. Memories that weren't his. Memories that belonged to the people he killed. It was how he was so intelligent. How he managed to avoid any further attempts on his life. He had gained a complete understanding of human psychology as well. He could predict a person's actions and thoughts very easily. He had first killed a half year ago. His body count numbered somewhere in the 30s by now. And he knew why he was hated so. Apparently he was the Kyuubi reincarnate, the fox that had attacked the village the day he was born. He knew this was not true, but he had a theory as to what connected him to the fox.

He was its Jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. The Kyuubi was sealed into his body, his very soul, by the former leader of the village.

 _ **Minato Namikaze.**_

Just thinking of the man was enough to spark a horrid rage within himself, a desire to destroy, to kill. And it scared him. What if he lost control? He didn't care much about human life, callously ending those who threatened him. But he killed them because they were a threat. Could he really kill an innocent person in cold blood? He already knew the answer to that question.

 _ **YES.**_ And it was as horrifying a thought as it was also attractive. He knew that with the more people he killed, and consumed, the stronger he became. The more intelligent he became.

But he did more than kill didn't he? Yes, he did more than consume the body. The very **soul** was prey as well. He had a glimpse of this when he discovered the odd ability to see the souls of the living, and the spirits of the dead. Ah, yes... another ability afforded to him. He postulated it was due to his status as a border being. Something not quite alive, nor dead. He had glimpsed the man's soul, a bright blue light, with a pinprick of darkness in its core. He witnessed how, what he believed to be his own soul, entirely black, had actually _reached out_ and absorbed the man's soul.

And that opened up an entirely new can of worms. What had happened to his soul? Was it twisted by the presence of the Kyuubi? Or was it changed by the very nature of his body? He didn't have an answer. He wasn't sure he wanted one.

'At least people are too afraid of me to attack me now...' Naruto thought, 'It was annoying how they never seemed to learn to leave me alone.'

He had gained an apartment, graciously given to him by the Sandaime, he never knew why the old man was so kind to him... was it all a ruse? An attempt to get him to trust the old monkey, so he may have access to the nigh-infinite strength of the Kyuubi? He hoped not. The old man was frankly the only reason he hadn't outright left the village entirely. If he was deceiving him... he feared for the old man.

He idly glanced around his surroundings, the apartment was rundown, paint flaking off the walls. Occasionally a cockroach or some other vermin would make itself known. They were good snacks. There was a little kitchen area off in the corner, a stove, refrigerator, and a few cupboards. All had seen better days, what with the rust, grime, and overall disrepair they were in. It wasn't like he needed or used them though.

He never got hungry, or physically tired. He didn't need to breath, nor did he require warmth. His skin was cold to the touch, and very pale. Almost like a corpse. It helped intimidate potential threats. He idly ran a hand through his hair, knocking a few grey strands in front of his eyes. He headed towards the bathroom then, and pushed the door open, the knob was missing entirely. He stepped in and looked towards the mirror. Blue-silver eyes stared back. Devoid of recognizable emotion yet extremely beautiful. He did feel, just not in the same way a human would. The processes behind emotion were like night and day in that respect.

He wore a simple white hooded jacket, intentionally large for his young age in order to hide his body's features, as well a black bubble vest his lower attire consisted of black jeans, as well as simple black urban loafers. He turned, back facing the mirror, his head was oriented towards the mirror. A strange symbol decorated the space on his jacket, spreading from shoulder to shoulder. It was a pair of vaguely wing like shapes, that glowed a sinister red.

Because of his physical features it was extremely difficult to tell if he was really a boy or a girl, although he identifies himself as a boy.

Having admired himself long enough, he stepped out of the bathroom. He had a meeting with the Hokage today... The old man tried so very hard to keep him innocent. To preserve his childhood. It failed, of course. But at least the elderly kage tried. That was a hell of a lot better than most people he knew.

He moved towards the door that would lead to the hallway, and eventually descended down the stairs. He lived on the top floor, the center room. The entire complex was abandoned, ever since he moved in, it's former residents all signed out once they found out they were sharing living space with the demon child. Naruto often fantasized about hanging them with their still warm intestines.

He exited the apartment building. And immediately headed towards a manhole. He opened it, the heavy cast iron disk weighed nothing to him. He dropped down and summoned a few tendrils to close the manhole.

The sewers were like a second home to him. No one ever dared to descend here. The smell was nauseating, and it all too easy to slip and take an unwilling bath in at least a few feet of human waste. And it was dark, there was no artificial lighting, leaving the tunnels practically pitch black. The smell didn't affect him in the least. And he can see beyond the spectrum of visible light. He felt the structure of his eyes change, and the darkness was soon replaced by a vision of blue and red. Infrared. He thrived in environments like this, where his prey had no hope of ever seeing him coming. A few red blobs darted in and out of sight in the distance. Rats. It took less than five minutes to get to his destination. He climbed the ladder, lifted the manhole cover, and crawled out. He replaced the cover.

He could see the Hokage Tower now. He had a preferred method of entry...

* * *

 _Hokage's Office_

Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently battling his most tenacious foe. Something more powerful than all the Bijuu combined. Something more intelligent than the entirety of the Nara Clan. Something more resilient than all the mountains in the world. This eldritch foe's name? _**Paperwork.**_ He signed and stamped at a blistering pace, little more than a blur to the average human's eyes. Yet no matter how he tried, no matter how valiantly he fought, the stack grew and grew in size. He wouldn't last for much longer. An idea came to mind.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four identical copies of the Sandaime poofed into existence in a cloud of white smoke, together they would defeat this enemy of all kages! In less than a few minutes all the paperwork was vanquished. The clones disappeared, and Hiruzen raised a hand to his forehead momentarily, in an effort to alleviate the slight headache produced by the memory feedback.

And then he realized, with a horrified and dumbstruck expression, that more paperwork was on his desk.

' _ **HOW!?'**_

His elderly mind screamed.

How had that damn paperwork sneak up on him?!

He was torn from his misery by a sudden thud near the window. He immediately leaped into action, taking a taijutsu stance before the intruder could surprise him. He never noticed Naruto until it was too late.

" _Boo."_

A girlish scream tore its way from Hiruzen's throat, as he whirled behind him. Naruto's ever stoic face was there to greet him. He screamed again. And proceeded to trip on his feet. His head roughly bounced off the hardwood floor.

Naruto's face made itself known again, he was kneeling over his fallen body.

"Are you alright old man?"

"Owwwww..."

"Should I get a medic-nin?"

"Urrrrrggggghhhh..."

"Damn. How am I going to get him up?"

"Oh wait, there is that weird orange book he hides in his desk."

Naruto picked up the strange book, and read the cover.

"Icha-Icha Paradise? Co-Ed loving?"

Curiosity overtook him, and he opened the book up. He was not pleased at what he saw. Far from it.

'Who the hell reads this crap? It's just pure smut. Where's the story? Where's the romance, the drama, the tragedy? Wait, who the hell wrote this anyway?'

He turned the book around and glanced at where the writer's name was.

"Jiraiya?"

At that Hiruzen stirred. Naruto looked back at him. He had managed to get back on his feet, though he was now nursing a bump on the back of his head. He looked towards Naruto and his face twisted into a rather comical expression of anger.

 **" _NARUTO, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO SNEAK UP ON ME?!"_**

The shout was powerful enough to actually shake the Tower. Many secretaries and chunin were convinced that an earthquake had just happened.

Naruto idly stuck his pinky finger into his ear, wiggled it around, and eventually took it back out, wiping it off on his jacket.

"Let's see, to date... around 468 times."

"I didn't mean literally!"

"You know how bad I am with sayings."

"That's not the point!"

"Meh. 'Sides it was funny seeing such a great and powerful shinobi scream like a pre-pubescent school girl."

Hiruzen's cheeks flushed then.

"Anyway, I believe you called me here?"

Hiruzen blinked. The blush died down. He sat down, steepled his fingers together, and adopted a serious expression on his face.

"Yes, I did Naruto. I want to discuss the possibility of you joining the shinobi forces."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched once.

"Again with this? Wouldn't I be unfit for service, what with my sociopathy, violent tendencies, and overall low sanity?"

Hiruzen sighed then.

"Naruto, you're not insane, your just troubled."

Naruto frowned.

"Yes, of course. Because butchering and eating people only counts as 'troubled.'"

Hiruzen adopted a sad expression then. He had failed in keeping Naruto a child. And what a failure it was indeed. Here was a child, with all the issues a war veteran suffering from PTSD would have. It wasn't right. The guilt often kept him up at night.

"Naruto..."

Naruto sighed.

"Old man, I can't be fixed. You know that. And I don't blame you. You tried your very best. Even risked your position once. I can't ever thank you enough for at least trying. I'll join."

Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"W-What? Just like that?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly narrowed then. His faintly glowing blue eyes rooted Hiruzen in place.

"On one condition. You tell me _**everything**_ about my past. My parents, why everyone hates me, _**everything.**_ "

Hiruzen's eyes widened even further. They resembled two sake saucers.

"Naruto... are you sure? I kept your past secret from you, so I could protect you. So I could prevent any more damage to you. The truth... it may very well scar you for life."

He was obviously worried. He was willing to tell Naruto.

Naruto's gaze hardened.

"How can I be scarred any further? I'm made of scars now."

Hiruzen winced none too subtly.

"Okay... I'll tell you. But not now.."

Naruto gained an expression of slight anger.

" _When?"_

"Once you graduate."

Naruto calmed.

"Alright. I can deal with that. How long will Academy last?"

"You'll be sixteen when you graduate. Assuming you don't fail."

"Okay. I'll wait until then. But you are going to tell me _everything_."

Naruto turned on his heel and walked towards the window. Opening it and leaping towards his apartment.

"I'm getting far too old for this shit."

Hiruzen grumbled once, then proceeded to grab the Icha-Icha book. He opened it, having dog-eared a page. Perverted giggling filled the office.

"Hohohoho... Aya... your a naughty girl."

* * *

Author's Notes

Hello everyone!

I had asked erenia0324 if I could adopt his/her story 'Viral Maelstrom' and he/she said yes!

So this fic will more or less be the same though certain plot points/arcs will be changed and it will eventually deviate from his/her plot.

This fic will have elements of Resident Evil, Marvel (specifically the Spider-man series) & Cthulhu Mythos.

Yes I genderbended Alex Mercer. Why? Because I wanted to that's why!

Oh yes Kushina is dead but that doesn't mean she'll stay dead for long.

I intentionally left Naruto's true gender hidden. It's to reflect his state of being.

Anyway till next time! ;)


	2. Beginning of Academy Days

Chapter Two: Beginning of Academy Days

Naruto landed a few feet away from the entrance to his apartment building, a deafening thud, and a few fragments of concrete flew away from his impact site. He walked towards the door, opened it, and headed towards the stairs. Feeling a little lazy, he chose to walk up the stairs rather than simply leaping up to the top floor.

He made his way back to his apartment and entered.

'Something's off here...'

Naruto had a good reason to be suspicious, for a few months now, he had been experiencing rather strange dreams. A city, built of concrete, steel, and glass. The buildings were taller than the Bijuu, and so many people populated it. A name came to mind... New York City. He had no idea where these memories could have possibly came from, there was no way they could have belonged to one of the many people he killed.

And now... he was seeing things. Ghosts? More memories? He didn't know. He could make out a feminine figure. She was transparent, but he could make out a skin tone, it was similar to his own. Short somewhat spiky dark brown hair adorned a heart-shaped face. She was slender and wearing a black cropped jacket with a deep V-neck, it exposed some of her midriff. She was wearing a cropped wool shirt underneath the jacket. A denim short skirt and skintight black stockings made up her lower attire. Footwear consisted of red and white sneakers.

She appeared to be conversing with someone. A figure came into existence a few feet in front of her. Also female yet older, early to mid-twenties. She wore a button-up white shirt with a protruding collar kept partially buttoned (exposing her rather large assets), a plain gray hoodie, and a black leather jacket with a red interior, two horizontal white lines on each sleeve, and a red tribal design on the back. She also wears plain blue jeans and black shoes.

Who were these people? They were from those strange memories. What were their names? He strained to remember but was interrupted when their conversation suddenly became audible.

 _The younger woman was heard first._

 _"Looks an awful lot like a college student these days, not bad for fifty-five years old."_

 _The older woman spoke next._

 _"Hope, Idaho was an experiment."_

 _The younger woman was taken aback by that._

 _"How could you possibly know that?"_

 _"The people I've killed... they're in me... I can hear them...see the things they've done..."_

 _She was walking away from her towards the end of that sentence, the younger woman had stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and turned her back towards her._

 _"What the fuck are you talking about?"_

 _The older woman gained a slightly crazed expression then._

 _"I can understand it all...I'm supposed to do these things...it's right...I can feel it."_

 _She had stepped closer and closer to the younger woman, and in turn the younger woman backed away until she couldn't any longer, slightly bending over something Naruto couldn't see. Her face was twisted in slight fear._

 _"F-Find Ragland...and ask him about McMullen..."_

 _The older woman stepped back, aware of what she was doing. She reached out in an effort to comfort her. The younger woman raised a hand in defense, and closed her eyes._

Naruto found himself suddenly incapable of looking away from her.

When she opened her eyes, and Naruto was freed from the sudden paralysis, the younger woman was gone. And with that the younger woman disappeared as well, fading from view.

"What was that?" Naruto whispered out to himself. He would occasionally hear voices in his head, but he never once saw a memory just play out like that. What the hell was going on?

"I was hoping this wouldn't happen for a little while longer..."

At the sound that woman's voice again, Naruto whirled around, fists raised in a combat stance.

"Relax...I'm not going to try and hurt you. You couldn't anyway. I'm not out there."

"Then where the hell are you?! The fuck did you do to me!?"

Naruto shouted out.

"Like I said...just relax. All will be explained soon enough."

Naruto suddenly felt strangely light-headed. His clenched fists relaxed, as he swayed to and fro, he collapsed in a heap.

* * *

 _(?)_

Naruto groaned in discomfort as he rose to his feet. He looked around, and wherever the hell he was, it wasn't his apartment.

It resembled an oversized sewer, with brick walls, ankle-high water, and no visible roof, just darkness. Occasionally water would drip from a system of pipes that spanned the walls.

Where was he? This didn't resemble the sewers of Konoha, it was too...expansive for that. There was a gap of roughly twenty feet from the walls to his left and right.

'Okay, I need to find a way out of this place.'

He looked at his surroundings again and located what seemed to a smaller tunnel branching off from the main tunnel.

'Is that the way out? Well, only one way to find out.'

He made his way to the smaller tunnel, it was big enough to fit an average adult. More than suitable for his own small stature. He entered the tunnel and was suddenly overcame by a blinding light.

* * *

 _Konohagakure, 6 months after Naruto's fourth birthday_

Naruto found himself suddenly propelled forward into a concrete wall. His face bounced off like it was made of rubber, and he swiftly found himself on the floor.

"That probably would have hurt..." Naruto mumbled to himself. He was confused as to why he didn't just outright break the wall or burrow a few inches into it. He rose to his feet and looked around.

"I'm back in Konoha?"

Indeed he was on a street, it seemed oddly familiar. Oh...that's why. It was where he first killed. But he felt strange here... like he was just an observer. Why?

His answer came when he saw himself, six months younger, rush past.

'Oh shit...'

He had found himself in one of his memories. Was that sewer his mind?

 _"He went this way!"_

 _A voice cried out, and two men came barreling around the corner at the far end of the street. They spotted Naruto and sprinted towards him._

 _"Come on!"_

 _He followed the men, and they around the corner at the other end of the street. Dead end. And he could see himself, he wasn't scared in the least. No, he was fully willing to fight for his life if necessary._

 _The two men took out kitchen knives._

 _"Is this the right thing to do?" The man on the left hissed that to his companion. The man on the right gained an angry expression, but it couldn't quite mask the fear in his eyes._

 _"Of course it is idiot! If we kill this kid, we get to be hailed as heroes!"_

 _"But..."_

 _"No buts! We do this now!"_

 _The man on the right suddenly rushed forward, knife drawn back, aiming for Naruto's heart._

 _But he never struck, Naruto dodged at the very last second, and instinct forced him to respond in kind to the attack. He lashed out with a small fist. And the would-be murderer's skull caved in. Naruto's eyes had widened, as black tendrils emerged from his clenched fist and made contact with what was left of the man's face. He watched in fascination as flesh and bone became a black liquid with the occasion red thread within. And then the tendrils came back. And with it, the agony. The memories._

 ** _"Look out! The Kyuubi's coming this way!"_**

 ** _He was so afraid, he hadn't seen his parents since the attack started, they were ninjas right? They could beat this fox, couldn't they?_**

 ** _He looked up and beheld the terrifying visage of the Kyuubi. It's teeth were fully visible, each roughly the size of an adult. It's lips were pulled back in an enraged snarl. Then it's eyes made contact with his own._**

 ** _The fox's eyes were red. With a slit pupil. He could have sworn he saw the tomoe of the Sharingan within, but then the Fox roared. He had never ran so fast or so far before._**

 _Naruto saw his younger self gasp once the initial memory ended. He brought his hands to his head. It hurt so much, that first consumption. The second though..._

 _"Oh my Kami..." The man who was reluctant to kill Naruto had dropped the knife in shock. He was frozen. He was terrified. Then Naruto made eye contact with him. The man's eyes widened. He never stood a chance, even as he turned in an effort to get away from this monster in human form. He was tackled suddenly, and even as he attempted to throw the monster off his back, it was digging into his skull, he could feel it beginning to fracture._

 _Naruto eventually gave up on crushing the man's skull, and instead violently jerked his hands. He could hear the crunch of vertebrae, as they gave under his own inhuman strength. He was so hungry, he needed to eat... All Naruto saw then was red, and the crunch of bone, and that hunger dissipating._

"Damn your childhood was bad."

Naruto whirled behind him, it was the hooded woman! He suppressed the urge to attack, he had a succinct feeling he didn't stand a chance against this woman.

"Who are you?" Naruto did his very best to remain calm.

"I'm the source of your powers in a way."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"That didn't answer the question."

The woman smirked. This kid was smart.

"My name is Alexandra Mercer."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Alex crouched down, getting to eye level with Naruto.

"I've been there every step of your life kid. I wanted to try and help you, but I could never reach you until now."

Naruto was confused, rightly so. Alex could have helped him? How? And what was preventing her?

"What do you mean?"

Alex's eyes darkened with anger then.

"That damn seal. It took me nearly five years to find out a way to communicate with you. It was far too late though. You've already taken your first life, and you haven't been able to stop killing since."

Naruto eyes widened in realization, his eyes darting towards his stomach. That was what that strange marking was? A seal? He had heard of seals before, but he never saw a seal himself. The shinobi he consumed had only a very basic knowledge of seals, mostly paper bomb tags and the like.

"You were sealed into me? Does that mean...?"

Alex honestly did feel sorry for Naruto, so many secrets had been kept from him. She herself wasn't really bound to the seal because she wasn't its original target. She didn't know what was sealed into Naruto, she honestly did wish she knew.

"I don't know Naruto, I haven't seen the Kyuubi since I've gotten in here."

Naruto noticeably calmed then. _The memory was still playing out, and the Hokage's voice drew his attention._

 _"Naruto...what happened?"_

 _Hiruzen was looking into an alleyway, he had personally investigated this tragedy. He had followed a trail of drops of blood away from the initial crime scene and it had led him here. Naruto was hiding in the alleyway, and he was covered in blood. His eyes were unfocused, staring at nothing._

 _"Naruto!"_

 _At that Naruto stirred, and looked towards Hiruzen._

 _"Old...man..."_

 _Hiruzen quickly made his way towards Naruto and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder._

 _"Are you okay, Naruto?"_

 _Naruto shook his head._

 _"I...killed...them..."_

 _Hiruzen's eyes widened in horror and realization._

 _"Oh, Naruto..."_

 _He quickly lifted Naruto up in his arms and made way to the hospital. There were some members of the staff, a few doctors and nurses, that weren't prejudiced towards him, Naruto needed somewhere safe to recover._

The memory ended then, and the two of them were returned to the main tunnel.

Alex spoke up.

"Naruto you should probably get some rest, Academy starts tomorrow."

Naruto nodded, he certainly felt more than a little tired.

"Okay, but how do I leave this place?"

Alex took on a thoughtful expression.

"Think about leaving maybe?"

That certainly made sense.

"That might work."

Naruto adopted a pensive expression then.

"Are you still going to be here?"

Alex crouched down again, took the hood off Naruto's head and ruffled his hair.

"Of course Naruto."

Naruto tried to smack away Alex's hand, he didn't like being touched! Dammit! Now Alex was laughing!

Alex couldn't quite suppress the chuckle as Naruto tried and failed to stop her from messing with his hair. Maybe there was still hope for him.

He eventually managed to get Alex to stop messing up his hair, and looked at her with an angry expression, somewhat offset by his pouting.

"Don't do that again."

Alex chuckled further still.

"No promises."

Naruto stopped pouting and eventually began fading from view.

"I have a feeling I'll like you kid… though I wish I know if you're really a guy or a girl."

* * *

 _Naruto's Apartment_

His first sight when he was back in the waking world was of his ceiling. He was back now. He sat up and looked around to ensure that no more visions would appear out of nowhere.

Alex had mentioned being able to communicate, he wondered...

'Alex?'

A few seconds passed before an answer came.

'Hey Naruto.'

Alex's voice came to him, a feeling of relief came awash over him.

'I can talk to you, good.'

'As entertaining as it might be to talk, you need your rest. Go to bed.'

'Alright, alright, I'm going.'

He rose fully to his feet and made his way to his bed. It was, like everything else in his apartment, old, and in disrepair. But he didn't care.

He got under the sheets, laying his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes. He still had questions about Alex, what did she mean when she said that she was the source of his powers? Did Mercer possess the same powers he did? It seemed likely, the vision that had forced him into his mind, had her mention the people she killed being 'part of her'. It was certainly likely. He would have to contemplate these questions tomorrow.

It would be a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Naruto awoke around 5:00 AM. Academy would begin around 6:30 AM. He had some free time until he began the long journey of becoming an official Konoha nin. He decided to pass the time by asking Alex a few questions about her past, and what her life was like.

The answers weren't what he expected. Not at all. He learned Alex wasn't really human, much like Naruto, but with a key difference. Alex wasn't human to begin with.

She explained how the face she wore, and her name weren't hers. They belonged to a scientist, specifically a geneticist specializing in the manipulation of viruses. Alex (or as she was once called, codename Zeus) was in truth a creation of the scientist, a bio-weapon she had called the Blacklight Virus, or by its strain serial code, DX-1118.

The way it worked was simply fascinating to Naruto. The virus operated by infecting a host, via multiple methods, like airborne viral particles clinging to dust, or traveling in water by hitchhiking on other microbes, like plankton or very simple multi-cellular animals like juvenile shrimp or other crustaceans, or it could travel by blood, burrowing into, and controlling, red blood cells.

When the virus successfully infected a host cell, it immediately forces the cell to activate junk DNA in its chromosomes, sparking a variety of biological changes that drastically affect the cell. Once the cell was fully transformed, it was a machine designed to capture other cells live and forcefully infect them. If the host cell was irreparably damaged, it would begin to break itself down, and use the now free organic molecules to construct more virions to infect more cells. Once a cell was completely dissolved, it would have made up to 1000 virions out of its own body.

An average person would be in critical condition within half an hour. Their organs would be slowly turned into more and more of the virus, until they simply could no longer function. They would lose consciousness within five minutes of collapsing. Death would occur seconds later.

The virions within would continue to work, making more of themselves, until all that remained was a puddle consisting entirely of the virus, a crimson thick fluid. They would eventually move on, either by being caught on a passing dust particle, or having the entire viral super colony make its way to a water source, such as a river or lake. The ones having hitched a ride on air currents may find themselves suddenly inhaled by a living thing, where the process would begin anew. It made no distinction between human or animal.

The entire super colony within a body of water would form a basic form for traveling in water, and if it encountered an organism unfortunate enough to be in its path, said organism would be overwhelmed and consumed.

This revelation answered many questions that Naruto had, the nature of his powers, what he had (or at least his physical body) become, as well explaining how consuming worked. Naruto asked Alex (or was it Zeus?) what exactly she was then, the answer was rather shocking.

Alex had explained that she's essentially, a viral super colony having gained sentience. Because of the unique conditions in which she had consumed the original Alex's corpse, it meant that she had fully transformed the body within the span of a few minutes, with the dead and dying cells offering no resistance. It gave her more time to develop, she had estimated that a viral super colony would eventually become sentient within half a century, but because she had a fresh corpse to snack on, it meant that the developing colony could immediately form, and begin the process to sentience almost instantly, Zeus, as she refused to be called by a dead woman's name anymore, became fully sentient in two hours.

That arose even more questions about Naruto, was he like Zeus now? If he was, then why did he possess a soul, while Zeus did not? How was Naruto even infected to begin with? He had very vague recollection of his early life, but never was there a moment where he could have come in contact with the virus. Or was there? He still hadn't confirmed the Kyuubi's presence within himself, but if the fox was sealed into him shortly after birth, did it affect him somehow? Did it's chakra somehow boost his mental prowess beyond the levels of the average newborn? Did he possess memories of birth?

There were a few tunnels, near where his mind seemed to 'begin' for lack of a better term, he knew that those small tunnels led to his own personal memories, so what were those first memories of? It seemed that with every question answered, a hundred more came into existence. It was extremely frustrating. And that was something that haunted Naruto. His past was shrouded in so much mystery, and as much as he wanted to pull back the curtain, he felt that what he would see, would be more damaging than everything he had already experienced in his young life.

But, the time for contemplating was over now, the alarm clock (relatively new since he had stolen it from a random civilian) began ringing incessantly. He suppressed that urge to break it (He really needed to get better at controlling himself) with a monumental effort. He very calmly walked over to it...and proceeded to smash it into broken glass and dented metal.

'Oops.'

Oh, well no matter... the alarm was to warn him that he had half an hour to get to the Academy.

'I've sat on my ass, thinking about shit for an hour?'

Naruto though incredulously.

If he continued that bad habit, his entire life may just consist of thinking. He wasn't a damn philosopher!

He decided now would be a good time to head to the Academy, deciding to do something a little different to exit the building. Zeus had regaled him with tales of how she evaded the military by using the architecture of New York to her advantage, defying gravity by running up sheer vertical walls, ducking in between building to confuse attack helicopters, and at one point, she had even managed to topple an entire building to flatten an entire block of soldiers and tanks.

Unfortunately, the building around Konoha were nowhere near as impressive, being constructed mainly of wood with asphalt shingles. If he were to try and land on one of those buildings moving at around the speed of an arrow, he had a feeling that the building would be no more. Oh well... he could always just run there.

* * *

 _Konoha Academy entrance, 6:20 AM_

Iruka Umino was having one of the most pleasant days of his life. He had managed to get a job at the Academy as a teacher, unfortunately, one of the stipulations of his inexperience in the field of teaching was that he needed an assistant. This would have ruffled his feathers somewhat, if said assistant teacher wasn't his best friend, Mizuki. The two had survived the Kyuubi attack, and both lost their parents in the ensuing destruction. Originally he had hated Naruto, much like almost everyone he knew, but then he became a chunin. He had gained more knowledge on sealing, and even learned of a special type of seal, referred to as a storage seal. It was capable of storing objects much larger than the scroll or whatever medium it was drawn on, in such a manner that no extra weight was added to said scroll or medium.

He didn't quite know the specifics behind it, and to be frank, neither did the seal artists. They mostly just experimented with different symbols and the like until something useful happened. Most of the time bad things happened, like an explosion, or an implosion. More than a few seal artists had lost their lives doing experiments without taking the proper safety precautions, it was one of the reasons the art of sealing wasn't well known. That and sealing was complicated as hell.

But when he was informed of the specifics behind Naruto's seal, the hate just...vanished. He realized then that he was just doing what everyone else was doing, a vast majority of people did truly hate and/or fear Naruto, but there was a minority that was just conforming, copying others to not be ostracized by society.

Then people started disappearing. And Iruka felt that familiar spark of fear, the possibility that the Kyuubi was attacking Konoha again, through a mortal medium this time, was more than enough to get him worried. Naruto would begin attending Academy today. And Iruka was curious.

Was Naruto the monster everyone called him? The missing persons reports stopped coming after the 5th person. Was it just a case of people vanishing in a way that Naruto was entire uninvolved in? Was he just a child, turned a pariah by a village wracked with grief, and consumed by rage, such so that it would demonize a little boy? Hopefully Iruka would find out.

And then the oddest thing occurred. He could hear what sounded like someone was dropping solid stone slabs in a quick rhythm, similar to the footsteps of someone running, and then that noise got louder and louder. Where was it coming from? He soon gained his answer when he saw what appeared to be a young child, dressed rather oddly, in a white hooded jacket, and black bubble vest, sprinting at full tilt towards him, a large cloud of dust being kicked up behind him.

He could barely even utter out a cry of 'Watch out!' before the child suddenly digged his heels into the ground and skidded to stop a few feet away from him. There were very noticeable tracks in the concrete, leading up to the child's feet.

"W-Wha?"

Iruka spluttered out, entirely shocked at what he just witnessed. The child stood tall now, he was certainly tall for his age, around 3 feet, 8 inches. The child raised his head, revealing his face to Iruka.

'It's Naruto!'

There was no mistaking that face. Deathly pale skin, thin strangely whisker-like marks on his cheeks, rather cold and unfeeling blue-silver eyes, and being extremely beautiful to the point of it being unnatural. There was also the fact that it was extremely difficult to tell if he was a boy or a girl from looks alone (though he heard that Naruto identifies as a boy).

Naruto made eye contact with him.

Iruka could never explain what that sensation that came over him was. It was like he was suddenly dunked in a pool of ice cold water. It felt similar to Killing Intent, but Iruka could feel nothing from Naruto. It was as if he naturally radiated this chilling aura, without even thinking of it. Thankfully, that frigid feeling dissipated, he had observed Naruto slightly twitch before hand. He apparently had to put conscious effort into suppressing that aura.

"Sorry about that. I was a bit too focused on getting here."

Naruto's voice was unchildishly flat. There was no inflection or tone difference. It was as though an automaton had spoken then. As well as it sounded neither feminine or masculine.

Swallowing, Iruka opened his mouth to speak.

"Um...It's okay, Naruto... I really should have been paying more attention."

A nervous chuckle ended that sentence.

Naruto's eyes slightly narrowed then, sending a sudden frigid spike up Iruka's spine.

"Yes. You really should."

Iruka felt rather awkward, he had been informed that he would be Naruto's teacher. He was beginning to feel a little reluctant taking this job now.

"Erm... Right. I'm uh...I'm going to be your teacher, so if you want, you could follow me to the classroom."

Naruto's eyes thankfully unnarrowed at that statement. An expression of what may have been curiosity decorated his face.

"Really? Well I hope you're a good teacher."

"Well, I am a new teacher here, so..."

Naruto swiftly gained an expression that Iruka couldn't place. Derision?

"Well now. You really got the short straw in class assignments."

Oh. Well at least he was honest that he wouldn't be a star student.

"Right... Well the class is just over there, just follow me."

* * *

 _Konoha Academy Classroom #101_

The classroom was filled with the noise of excited children. They couldn't wait to become ninjas! To save princesses, and whole kingdoms! To become renowned the world over! All conversation suddenly silenced when the door to the class opened. In walked a young man, roughly 20 years old, he possessed a medium tan, with brown hair pulled back in spiky ponytail, with brown eyes, and a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, with Hitai-ate on his forehead, a dark green flak jacket, along with the standard ninja sandals. Then came another student. He/she looked weird yet beautiful, with very pale skin, those whiskers on his cheeks, and those creepy blue eyes. That wasn't even including the way (s)he dressed. A white hoodie, black bubble vest, black jeans, and most oddly of all, closed-toe black shoes. Everyone else was wearing sandals, why wasn't (s)he?

Then the man spoke, identifying himself as Iruka Umino, as well as stating that he would be their teacher for the entirety of their time spent at the Academy. That weird kid had gone off to sit at the back, in one of the corners. Occasionally, other students would glance back at him/her and whisper to others. Some laughed quietly, some (mostly girls) blushed, others looked at Naruto with slight anger, their parents had told them that this kid was bad and they shouldn't talk to him, their parents told them to so there had to be a reason. They never did manage to find out why though.

Others still would look at Naruto with curiosity. Such as the clan heirs, including the Nara, Akamichi, and rather surprisingly the Uchiha Heiress. She was famed for her aloof nature, and every girl in the school wanted to be more like her. So why was Saiyuri Uchiha so interested in that weird Naruto?

Naruto saw how the class reacted to him and had only one thing to think of in response.

'My time here is gonna suck.'

* * *

Author's Notes

Hello everyone!

Here's another chapter!

Also to anyone who dislike these things than FUCK OFF! No one's forcing you to read these fics and if you don't like it then make your own if you think you can do better!

Anyway see ya guys! ;)


	3. Ghosts of the Forest

Chapter 3: Ghosts of the Forest

Alright to answer some reviews:

NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: I'm not to sure. I'm torn between having her stay dead or bring her to life somehow. If I do bring her to life it will be when Naruto in his group arrive to Mist to participate in the civil war (which unlike it's predecessor will happen AFTER the Invasion of Konoha arc & maybe after the Tsunade retrieval arc). If she comes back it won't be as an enemy. The worlds I'm thinking about are High School of the Dead, DC universe, Dead Space, maybe the Marvel universe, maybe the Resident Evil universe, and maybe the Prototype universe that Alexandra came from. The rest I'm still thinking.

DALucifer13: Like I said Naruto IDENTIFIES himself as male.

Megatronus Uchiha: Naruto IDENTIFIES himself as male. He isn't female, though he isn't really male either. Sorry there will be a harem.

* * *

'Holy shit, are all kids my age supposed to be this fucking loud?!'

Naruto had a good reason to be upset, the 'curriculum' or maybe the burnt-out remnants of one, was laughably pathetic. They only seemed to teach the very basics of combat. How to throw a kunai or shuriken, a taijutsu style that was marginally better than flailing about in random directions, hoping that one of your telegraphed like a goddamn comet punches or kicks made contact, which a blind person could likely dodge, not that it mattered, considering how a majority of the students were seeking to become ninja to live a life of glory and fame.

'What a bunch of utter morons.'

Naruto thought angrily.

He had thought he had seen the limits of human stupidity when more lambs offered themselves to the slaughterhouse, with the citizens of Konoha playing the lamb, and himself being an extremely efficient slaughterhouse. But no... it seemed humans were even less intelligent than what he once thought. Somewhat more intelligent than a banana it seemed. And he was supposed to go through twelve years in this miserable excuse for a ninja academy?

But at least not everyone in the class were like the rest of the villagers. Sure, a good majority of the class acted just like their parents, judging him based on hearsay and rumor, but there were others who seemed curious about him, the clan heirs it seemed. Admittedly it made, their parents were likely privy to what lay beneath that seal on his stomach, and likely told their children to give him a chance. Maybe not all humans were that bad.

Of special note was the Uchiha clan heiress, roughly the same age as he was. She possessed the typical Uchiha appearance, black hair, black eyes with no visible pupil, and pale skin. She was wearing a black high-collared t-shirt, white shorts, along with dark blue ninja sandals.

Her clan was currently in conflict with the Hokage, rumors had spread of the Uchiha clan apparently planning a coup. They felt that the village's mistrust of them since the Kyuubi attack was rather nonsensical, and seemed to be planning leaving Konoha, after making sure to raze it to ground beforehand.

Naruto thought the Uchiha were being rather arrogant. More so than usual. A single ninja clan, taking on the rest of the Konoha military by themselves? They would be crushed within a day. They tend to rely on that damn pink-eye far too much, to the point that it was a key part of their personal taijutsu style.

But Saiyuri seemed different... she wasn't as convinced that if the tensions were to escalate to violence, that the clan would stand a chance. Her mother seemed to share that sentiment.

Another clan heir that sparked his own curiosity was Shikamaru Nara, he resembled his father heavily. The only real difference being his paler complexion. Black hair drawn back in a very spiky ponytail, narrow brown eyes that seemed permanently half-lidded. It seemed the Nara clan's laziness had passed down to its heir. His ears were pierced with silver loop earrings. He wore a long-sleeved gray shirt with the Nara clan's symbol on its front. Khaki shorts, and dark blue ninja sandals.

Next to him was a rather overweight child, he possessed a square-shaped face, brown spiky hair, and brown eyes. He wore a zip-up long-sleeved shirt, with a light green upper section covering the shoulders, and dark green covering the rest of the chest. Black shorts, and black ninja sandals made up his lower attire was black shorts along with black ninja sandals. He had a slight tan, and spiral marks adorned his cheeks. He seemed to be friends with Shikamaru. It made sense, since the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans had been united practically since Konoha's founding.

Another clan heir, the Inuzuka. They were a clan renowned for their exceptional tracking skills, and their ninken partners. Specially trained dogs that were apparently capable of communicating with humans. He wore a tan long-sleeved turtleneck shirt, with dark brown padding on the elbows. Dark gray shorts and like everyone else in the classroom besides him, ninja sandals. Specifically dark blue. Dark brown spiky hair that looked as though it had never been combed ever adorned the top of his head. His eyes were slit, somewhat like a dog. And red Inuzuka clan markings decorated his cheeks. There was also a small white puppy in his hands. His ninken it seemed.

He looked towards the next clan heiress. A Yamanaka. They were unmistakable, with their pale blonde hair, She had short hair, roughly shoulder length. Two blue barrettes kept her bangs from falling in front of her eyes. Her eyes were a light blue with no visible pupil. A light orange blouse, with black stripes running up the arms. She wore a pair of silver necklaces. Off-white shorts with black ninja sandals. Her name was Ino, daughter of the current head of the Konoha Intelligence department, Inoichi Yamanaka.

There were more notable students, a slightly older girl with two buns in her hair. A boy roughly the same age as the girl with extremely thick eyebrows, and what appeared to be a bowl cut hairstyle combined with a braid that reached down to his lower back. Two Hyuugas, one the clan heiress, and another who was currently unknown. A branch member perhaps? Then there was the Aburame clan heir, wearing the typical attire, thick trench coat with a collar high enough to conceal his face, along with dark sunglasses concealing his eyes. And finally a girl who was obviously a civilian, with bright pink hair, green eyes. She was sitting next to Ino, the two whispering to each other. Not that he cared what they said.

Eventually the lecture ended, and they were dismissed.

'Good Kami above, that took forever, nice to finally get back on track.'

 _'Huh? Oh sorry... the lecture was so boring I must have nodded off.'_

'I was feeling rather tempted to just copy that Nara kid and fall asleep too.'

 _'I heard you mention how you wish you could be in two places at once, and I think I have a solution.'_

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

'Oh? What great ideas do you have oh mighty Zeus?'

He could feel Zeus' irritation.

 _'Stop snarking. Get back to your apartment, your gonna need privacy for this.'_

'Alright.'

He was more than a little bit curious what Zeus had in mind.

* * *

 _Naruto's Apartment_

'Okay... I'm here.'

 _'Okay, have you ever heard of the Kage Bunshin?'_

'I've eaten people who have. Does that count?'

 _'Yep. You know the basics behind it right?'_

Naruto nodded.

'Yes. It's a solid clone, capable of attacking and even taking a hit or two before dispelling.'

That was the problem with it. The chances of it being dispelled easily while at the academy were too high so he couldn't risk using it to skip classes.

He could feel Zeus smirk then.

 _'We're going to recreate it. But with biomass instead of chakra.'_

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

'And how would we do that? Do you mean to say I can somehow physically split myself into two?'

A few moments of silence.

'WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THE MOMENT IRUKA STARTED LECTURING?! I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK I'D HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT FOR TWELVE FUCKING YEARS!'

 _'Ow! Stop shouting dammit! I said the lecture bored me to the point of falling asleep, so how was I going to tell you that!?'_

Naruto felt somewhat embarrassed at that, he had forgotten how the lecture had affected Zeus.

'Right sorry.'

He felt Zeus glare lightly at him from within, before she continued with the original point.

 _'Anyway, before Mount Naruto exploded, I was going to explain how to do it. And what you can do with it.'_

'Okay... do you mind elaborating?'

 _'Okay, to split yourself, all you need is think of splitting in half.'_

Naruto eyes widened.

'That's it?'

 _'Yep. In theory at least.'_

'Great, theory. Nothing to concerned about.'

 _'Oh shut up..'_

Naruto shook his head.

'Okay... here goes.'

Naruto though of splitting, and it happened, it was an interesting experience, feeling your mind and soul shift to one side of your body. He had stretched down the middle until he was fully in half. Though painless, at an outsider's view it would look quite grotesque. Both halves of Naruto proceeded to regain the lost side of their body and then they looked at each other.

"Well that was weird."

"That's an understatement."

Naruto was surprised to hear the bio-clone speak back.

"Wait you can think for yourself?"

The clone took on a confused expression.

"Apparently. Hey if you can do something like this then it should be a piece of cake for you to create a body for Zeus."

Naruto nodded.

"Sure. I guess. It's worth a shot."

Something like a bio-clone came into existence, but only remained so, until it suddenly dissolved into a black and red puddle. Said puddle started moving, making limbs, a face, and eventually clothing until Zeus was in front of him.

"Oh, man that felt funky."

Naruto stifled a chuckle.

"Funky?"

Zeus blinked.

"It's from a movie, you'd have to see it to understand."

"Right. Sounds like a very imaginative movie."

"You might want to order that clone to attend the Academy in your place."

Said clone looked at the both of them with a betrayed expression.

"Why me?!"

Naruto looked back at the clone.

"Because that's what you were made for."

The clone tried to argue further but eventually gave up. 'Of course the first clone would get the crap assignments.' It snarked to itself.

"Okay, just be ready tomorrow. I don't want hear any complaining from you."

The clone nodded and decided to spend it's free time sleeping on the couch.

Naruto looked back towards Zeus.

"So now what?"

Zeus smirked. That smirk spelled doom for Naruto.

"Now... I train you."

Zeus chuckled evilly to herself. Naruto had a feeling that this 'training' could be easily mistaken for torture.

"Okay...sure. Train in what?"

Zeus stopped chuckling and looked at Naruto seriously.

"It's time you learn how to make your body a weapon. Believe me, once we're done, you'll probably be able to take on at least fifty Anbu at once."

At that Naruto smirked in a manner similar to Zeus had earlier.

"That strength will definitely be worth whatever pain this training is going to put me through."

"Good. At least your willing. One of those shinobi you consumed had learned of a training ground called, 'The Forest of Death' apparently it's the most dangerous forest in Konoha and used during chunin exams to weed out the weak."

Naruto couldn't resist the opportunity to snark further.

"Forest of Death? I have a feeling it's popular as a tourist spot."

Zeus looked annoyed.

"Quit snarking already. Come on, let's head there now."

* * *

 _Training Ground #44_

Naruto was already beginning to like this place. The overall atmosphere would be dark, foreboding, and frightening to the average human, not even Jonin dared to enter this forest. To Naruto however, it may as well have been paradise. He heard tales of the giant predators that resided here, from giant centipedes to colossal tigers, and the canopy above was the perfect way to spy on prey from above.

Zeus noticed Naruto's excitement.

"Okay why are you practically bouncing on your heels?"

Naruto turned to Zeus and grinned.

"I like this place a lot. So many predators. If what you told me on the way over here was true, this smorgasbord will mean lots of new powers for me to use."

Zeus was already certain of this, but this only kept hammering nails in that coffin. Naruto was definitely less than sane. And this was coming from a sentient virus with a body count of over two thousand.

"Right...Well let's enter. There's a barbed wire fence blocking it, but we can just jump over it. Besides, I think this forest might help me get the hang of my own powers again."

And with that, the hooded duo leaped over the fence.

* * *

Naruto and Zeus had been in the Forest of Death for maybe five minutes and they had already been attacked by a roving group of giant spiders. Needless to say, the spiders were currently blue stains on the ground. Naruto had observed Zeus turn her hands into claws. The claws themselves seemed to have the overall luster, texture and numerous other properties of steel. Zeus' arms had changed from human to a black, gnarled, and chitinous form. Zeus also seemed to lose a digit, as she only had four claws on either hand.

Naruto had asked about this, how Zeus acquired the claws, and what he was told was a rather interesting story.

Apparently, back when Zeus was in New York City, she had done a rather major blunder and released someone named Elizabeth Greene, she was described as being a hollow vessel for the predecessor to the Blacklight virus, called Redlight. Also she was apparently Zeus' mother.

"Wait what? That creepy as hell girl was your mom?" Naruto asked, incredulously.

Zeus seemed to shift uncomfortably, before she spoke up.

"It's...complicated. I was descended from a variant strain she had produced, so in a way...yeah I...uh...was her child."

Naruto blinked.

"And you were saying my childhood was fucked up. So you ate her right?"

Zeus nodded.

"Yes. I'd rather not repeat that experience. Her memories were jumbled, incomprehensible and I very nearly took over the Infected, her experience as their leader kinda messed with my mind a little."

Naruto was about to continue the conversation, when he felt what seemed to a large collection of lost human souls further into the forest.

"Whoa. Big group of spirits over there. I count at least fifty of them."

Zeus shuddered then.

"Don't tell me you're going to investigate. I can't really attack ghosts like you can. Lacking a soul and all that."

Naruto couldn't quite stifle his chuckle.

"Your afraid of ghosts."

Zeus seemed to become somewhat embarrassed.

"What? N-No. It's just...ghosts can't be killed cause their already dead. And since I can't just inhale them like you can, it's more than a little unnerving for me."

The chuckle soon became outright laughter, as Naruto headed off towards the lost souls.

Zeus followed Naruto reluctantly.

"Oh this is going to suck."

* * *

 _Decrepit bunker, Forest of Death_

Naruto came to what appeared to be the entrance to an underground bunker, it was well camouflaged, with the entrance within a small sinkhole. He dropped down, and immediately could hear the faint moans of the dead within.

"This should be interesting."

Naruto said to himself.

He grasped the wheel on the blast door and twisted. The door came loose and he pushed it open. The smell of rotting flesh and human waste permeated the air. There was a stairway further down, but It seemed the bunker's interior lights had burned out. He activated his Thermal Vision and headed down.

It was very immediate what this place once was, with what appeared to be test tubes, beakers, and autopsy tables with what may have been blood. Thermal Vision didn't allow him to see true colors, but it was a minor inconvenience. To his left, there was another blast door, much more reinforced than the entrance door, the sound of footsteps behind him didn't alert him.

It was Zeus. Naruto spoke.

"Former laboratory. The souls all seem to be trapped behind that door."

Zeus clenched her fists.

"Then let's open it up."

Zeus proceeded to grab the blast door, her fingers digging into the solid steel. Once she had a good grip, she tore the door right off its hinges, then tossed the now useless blast door to the ground with a very loud thud.

Naruto entered first and was intrigued at what he saw.

Cylindrical glass tubes, big enough to house a person lined the walls. There were multiple hoses within, as well as what appeared to be a respiratory mask. Some were filled with a fluid, whether it was water or something else couldn't be determined. Some of the tubes housed...things. They bore only the scarcest resemblance of humanity. With deformed limbs and faces, some seemed to possess extra limbs, or in one peculiar tube, it seemed that two people had been fused together somehow, their faces were locked in an expression of horror and agony.

Further down still, he caught his first glimpse of a spirit. It seemed identical to the two-faced person in the tube. Then it talked.

It's voice had a whispery echo and seemed to vary between a feminine voice and a masculine voice.

 _"Orochimaru did this. He made us suffer."_

Naruto raised an eyebrow, as Zeus stiffened behind him.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin you mean?"

Both of the spirit's heads nodded.

 _"Yes. We are trapped here. Orochimaru has left a seal that prevents all of us from moving on. Some of us have already lost ourselves. They will likely attack you."_

Naruto waved off the spirit's concern.

"Relax, I can deal with a few vengeful ghosts."

The spirit seemed satisfied at that.

 _"We implore you. Erase them. The void of nonexistence is better than this cruel fate."_

Naruto nodded gravely.

"I'll destroy any of you who have lost it."

The spirit nodded once more.

 _"Before you go...answer this question."_

The spirit narrowed its two pairs of eyes.

 _"Your soul...it feels so...dark and cold. What happened to you?"_

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

"I saw the worst humanity had to offer. I fought monsters, so it was only fitting I became one as well."

The spirit seemed to pity him.

 _"A child like you shouldn't have such a dark soul. For your own sake, find a light and cling to it. Unless you to become like us."_

The spirit faded away.

Zeus relaxed. And Naruto felt the urge to prod at her but suppressed it. He had a job to do anyway.

This bunker would do good as a residence. Deep in the Forest of Death, he highly doubted anyone would go looking for him here. The expansive bunker would definitely be an upgrade from that dingy apartment at the very least.

"Now where's that seal?"

The spirit did not inform him of its location. It was likely it didn't know. But he had detected a twisted presence further down the bunker. If Orochimaru was this heartless mad scientist, that was likely what his chakra felt like. There was another stairwell leading down. After descending it, he came across another spirit.

It bore the appearance of a young boy, similar in age to himself. Long shoulder length blond hair. He couldn't make out any details about his face. The spirit was looking at the ground, it's hair covering it's face.

Naruto decided to try and sneak past the spirit. Most ghosts had difficulty differentiating him from other lost souls, and if he did this right, he could get past without any difficulty.

But the plan failed before it even began as the spirit rasped out a sentence.

 _"Who...are...you...?"_

Naruto looked at the spirit resolutely.

"Not your savior. I just want this bunker. I'll destroy the seal keeping you here, but not out of any good will."

The spirit seemed to laugh quietly at that.

 _"No...Why would you? Only one human has ever shown compassion towards you. But nevertheless, I'll help you. I've been trapped here for as long as I can remember. I want to be free."_

The spirit raised its head at that, revealing it's face. It had a fair complexion. Hazel eye. The right eye was missing, along with a lot of flesh. He could see the entirety of the internal structure of the orbit. The wound was bleeding as well. But the drops of blood vanished before they could make contact with the ground.

Naruto wasn't fazed at the boy's face, and neither was Zeus. This seemed to take the spirit aback.

 _"I had expected you to cringe in disgust."_

Naruto shrugged.

"I've seen and done a lot worse."

The spirit seemed to accept that.

 _"My name is Akuto."_

Naruto nodded.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

The spirit seemed to reminiscence at that.

 _"Uzumaki...why does that name seem so familiar? No matter. My past life is a haze, I can scarcely remember it. I know where the seal is. Follow me."_

The newly named Akuto floated off down the hall, with Naruto and Zeus in hot pursuit.

They came to a new series of blast doors. Naruto could feel more spirits on the other side, they felt off though.

'Those must be the hostile spirits then'

Akuto spoke.

 _"This door keeps the more violent of us locked away, and they guard the seal. We'll need to destroy them."_

Naruto took on a combat stance.

"I can handle myself. Not the first time I've dealt with vengeful spirits. Just let me take care of it."

He spun and kicked the right door. It flew off its hinges and embedded itself in the opposite wall. He could see a strange seal on the leftmost wall, it glowed a bright purple. It consisted of a circle, broken in three sections, along with three tomoes in the circle.

There were multiple spirits hobbling around, at least 6 of them. All were deformed in some way. One had its mouth gone, with a throbbing growth in place of it, teeth were jutting out in random directions. Another seemed to be have been skinned alive, he could very clearly see exposed muscle, and the joints were visible as well. Yet another may or may not have been female, he couldn't properly tell since where it seemed to possess an overall feminine figure, with full hips, a narrow waist. The chest was flat or to be more specific, there wasn't really a chest. All the flesh seemed to have been stripped away. Leaving the ribcage along the organs all visible within.

He didn't have time to observe anymore of the spirits since one leapt at him, a piercing shriek erupting from its lips. It never got a chance to try and attack, since a strange black smoke was ejected from Naruto's open palms and latched onto the spirit. It gave one last cry before it was suddenly torn in half, and the smoke returned to Naruto's palms. He ducked a wild swing at his head before latching onto the attacking spirit's arms and tearing it off. The spiritual arm was swiftly engulfed by Naruto, and the screaming spirit was finished off by him tearing it's head off.

Akuto seemed to spring into action, flying towards the feminine spirit and punching it square in the chest. His fist continued through to emerge from the hostile spirit's back. The spirit went limp, before suddenly bursting into flames and burning away to nothing. Akuto was blindsided by the spirit with no skin and was struggling against it. Naruto came to his rescue and crushed the skinned spirit's head between his palms.

'Two more left.'

The two surviving spirits never got a chance to attack as the two-faced spirit returned, placing it's hands on the two spirit's heads. They combusted away.

Naruto relaxed.

"Well that was exciting. Nice moves Akuto."

The blond spirit nodded.

Zeus, who hadn't involved herself in the skirmish on account of being effectively useless spoke up then.

"That was a little hairy. I really need to find out how to attack spirits, if this becomes a regular thing..."

Naruto waved off her concerns.

"Nah. Most spirits usually just sit there, and whine. It gets annoying, sure. But eventually most spirits usually just move on."

The two-faced spirit spoke then.

"There is the seal that keeps us bound here. I do not know how to destroy it, but I believe the power of Naruto's soul may overload it."

Naruto blinked.

"Wait, so you want me to risk my very soul to destroy this thing?"

The two-faced spirit nodded.

 _"It may be the only option we have. Please, we beg of you. Free us!"_

Naruto had to think this through. He didn't care about these souls. Why should he risk his soul for their sake?

Zeus noticed Naruto's apprehension.

"Naruto I think you should you do it."

Naruto turned to Zeus, eyebrow raised.

Zeus explained.

"Think about it Naruto. Your soul can consume other souls. I'm pretty certain it's is very powerful now. You shouldn't be at any risk, and once you free these souls, the bunker's yours. This would be a very good place to train in secret."

Naruto had to agree with that logic.

"Okay...so how do I overload this seal?"

The two-faced spirit looked at Naruto, then the seal.

 _"You will have to separate your soul from your body to be able to destroy this seal. I can help in that regard, and I'll stay a while to help your soul return to your body."_

Naruto nodded.

"Right then. Do the honors."

The two-faced spirit reached into Naruto's chest, and it passed through into the center. Naruto gave a slight pained grunt before suddenly collapsing, with the spirit's hand pulling back, grasping onto what appeared to be Naruto's soul.

His soul was anything but human. The most that could be described was a shadow cloud with tentacles. The longer it was stared at the clearer it became, to the point that numerous bloodshot eyes and numerous fang-filled mouths appeared. Zeus quickly looked away before more details could be make out. She had a feeling that her mind wouldn't be able to take it if she saw what Naruto's soul TRULY looked like.

He looked back at the two-faced spirit, and noticed its eyes were wide open.

 **"What's wrong?"**

His voice(s) sounded more like the screams of the damned.

The two-faced spirit quickly looked away knowing that if it continued to look it would be driven further into madness.

 _"What happened to you Naruto? What was it that twisted your soul so?"_

Naruto seemed to sigh. It sounded weird with multiple mouths plus it swore that the screams seemed to get louder.

 **"Like I said...I experience the worst humanity had to offer."**

Naruto floated over to the seal. He examined it, looking for any vulnerabilities he could exploit. There was one. It seemed Orochimaru had made a writing error, it was minor, but meant that a sufficiently powerful spiritual entity could destroy the seal with a proper applied usage of spiritual power. He placed a tentacle over the weakness, and focused. Some of the shadows that composed his soul suddenly flooded one of the tomoes. Then returned to Naruto. The seal glowed brighter and brighter until the light would have blinded anyone in the room. Then it died. The seal was gone now. A scorch mark on the wall was all that remained.

The two-faced spirit, and Akuto were suddenly surrounded by a bright white light, Zeus looked away from the blinding light, but Naruto wasn't fazed. He could see the two-faced spirit suddenly split apart, a man and a woman. He couldn't make out any features. Akuto meanwhile, had the empty eye socket healed, and now possessed a pair of eyes. The spirits looked at him, smiled, and vanished. The light disappeared as well.

Zeus looked around, unsure.

"Um...are all the spirits gone now?"

Naruto nodded.

 **"Yes. I can't feel anymore spirits. But now I have to figure out how to return to my body."**

Zeus shrugged.

"I guess you could just, I don't know, line up with your body on the floor?"

 **"That could work."**

He proceeded to float parallel to the floor, and lined up the limbs of his soul with the limbs of his body. And he was returned to it.

"Well that was an interesting experience."

Now that whole ordeal was over, he now had a new place to call home. Overall it was a good day.

* * *

Author's Notes

Hello everyone!

So some people are confused about Naruto's biological sex and I feel that if I don't address the situation the readers will continue to bother me in the long run so here's the answer:

Naruto is exactly like Lucifer from Devilman. He is essentially a hermaphrodite (a being with the physical traits of both male & female). Like Lucifer he identifies himself as male. Although unlike Lucifer who takes a pure male form, Naruto doesn't feel the slightest bit comfortable taking on a pure male form (same for a pure female form) as it feels like he's going against his nature so he takes on a form that has both traits of the opposite sex which is why people have a hard time guessing if he's a guy or a girl.

Here we get a glimpse of Naruto's soul which is something straight out of HP Lovecraft's works. Before anyone asks it wasn't the Blacklight that changed his soul, it was years of Hatred that twisted it into an abomination.

Well see ya! ;)


	4. Massacre & End of Academy Days

Chapter 4: Massacre & End of Academy Days

To answer some reviews:

Max Moreno: Tsunade maybe. Alex is her own person with a personality of her own. It'd be too cruel for her to be fused with Kushina. Plus if the two fused they would become a completely different person.

SPBRX: As I clearly stated in Chapter 1 this fic is ADOPTED. For a lot of parts it's going to stay the same from the previous fic Viral Maelstrom. Things are going to be different in later parts. If you want to be sure that I'm not stealing just ask erenia0324

DALucifer13: That's actually quite close to what his soul looks like. Like Prototypes & Evolved he's technically sexless though he can replicate both sets of reproductive organs. Inside he doesn't have any but outside he resembles a hermaphrodite.

Gammagyro: He will. Yakumo maybe, Shion maybe, the rest I have no idea. Considering its nature Naruto would just use it as his own personal summons. Honoka maybe.

Specterchilypepper: He won't have sexual relations with other hermaphrodites or males (though he'll have fun screwing with their minds)

DBlade59: He will travel around the Nations & steal bloodlines. Shikotsumyaku is a bit redundant as Naruto can easily create abilities like that. The same for Jugo's bloodline (though it will help him with Senjutsu). However consuming both will give him more ideas as well as enhance his Infected. He'll have something like Sakon & Ukon's ability *hint marvel*

Guest: Hermaphroditism is a real thing, look it up.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: Last chapter was just a censored version. The uncensored version can drive ANYONE into madness including Kaguya & the Biju.

Gundam Meister Uzumaki: Maybe (though I don't know how to work it out with Supergirl)

* * *

It had been two years since Naruto found, and took possession of, an underground laboratory formerly owned and operated by Orochimaru of the Sannin. He had disposed of the corpses littering the place, repaired the lighting (discovering the bunker was powered by a system that mimicked photosynthesis, something that Naruto found nothing short of fascinating) and cleaned the bunker entirely. All the bloodstains and bio hazardous materials like used scalpels and syringes were cleaned and disposed of respectively.

The bunker's interior were a shiny stainless steel, with lights that were built into the walls and ceiling. The autopsy tables were spotless and ready for any future use. The glass tubes used for storing and observing test subjects were filled with water and ready to be occupied. If Naruto ever wished to experiment with the Blacklight virus on either the surrounding wildlife, or by kidnapping Konoha residents, he had a perfect place to perform the experiments.

Zeus had taught Naruto everything she had accomplished with the Blacklight virus' capabilities. Including shape-shifting, turning her arms and legs into weapons, as well as how to perfectly impersonate a person. As Zeus had two weeks and a half to become as powerful as she was before she was brought into Naruto's world, Naruto had more time to refine his abilities.

Zeus had told him to be imaginative and put his own spin on the weapons Naruto could make. For example, Naruto's claws were much longer than Zeus' and very sleek almost like katana blades. The claws reached down to Naruto's ankles, providing him the range of the average sword. His blade was similar to Zeus' but still had its key differences. The blade itself was longer & larger with red veins, scraping against the ground if Naruto fully extended it towards the floor. The small spike that emerged from where Zeus' elbow would be was instead a smaller blade for Naruto and possessed serrated edges.

Naruto's Whipfist was also much different from Zeus'. The blades on the end of it were changed from the original design of two blades with two barbs that faced towards Zeus, by instead possessing a single blade on its end with no barbs. The tendril the blade was attached also differed from the original design, by being bladed as well, said blades emerging from vertebrae like growths on the tendril.

Naruto at first thought the Hammerfists would be useless when most of his enemies would be shinobi. Much faster and smaller than the tanks it was originally meant to combat. Although he then thought they might be useful against beings such as Biju so there's that. In order to counteract it's weakness he developed attacks that affect the entire area which can be useful against a large group or an underground attack. They were also capable of using a weaker yet more area effective version of the claws' groundspikes ability. If there was an off chance that he can get a shinobi to stay still for enough time it will only take one punch (and not even at full strength) to kill them instantly. Unlike the Infected from Zeus' world most Shinobi were not built to tank things that could easily break through metal stone. Naruto's Hammerfists were covered in numerous metallic spikes and had glowing red veins.

He developed tendrils that could emerge from anywhere on his body, with a variety of uses, from allowing him to manipulate or grab more than two objects, from being used as an extension to the Whipfist.

Naruto had on occasion returned to his apartment, where his bio-clone resided, and after hearing it whine about how it had to hear the same lecture over and over, it gave him info on what the students were learning, as well as what the more interesting students, the clan heirs, were doing.

Apparently, the Akimichi and Nara heirs, were good friends. Not surprising. But the Yamanaka heiress wasn't on good terms with them. It had to do with the Nara's laziness, and the Akimichi's eating habits. The Hyuuga heiress was timid and shy, barely capable of finishing a sentence without stuttering at least once. The Uchiha heiress was surprisingly friendly, attempting to extend a friendly hand towards the bio-clone (and by proxy him). It definitely was of note. Saiyuri's mother was also friendly towards him, but her expression was odd. It was like she was remembering someone else. He'd have to find out who later. The Inuzuka heir was brash and loud, much like the majority of his clan, and challenged clone-Naruto to numerous duels that always ended with the Inuzuka being beaten into the ground. But Kiba seemed a good sport about it, always declaring that would get stronger to one day surpass Naruto. It was an amusing thought, but still was a pleasant surprise to see another friendly face.

Then there was the issue of the pink-haired annoyance. Her name was Sakura Haruno and seemed book smart but was utterly incompetent in combat. More concerned with her appearance, and boys. The clone was very much tempted to clean the human gene pool somewhat by killing her, consuming her would likely give him a very bad case of indigestion. But the clone managed to suppress that particular urge. There wasn't much more of note.

He was heading back towards the Forest of Death when the piercing sound of the dying sounded off in the distance, it's origin around the Uchiha District.

Naruto frowned. What was going on? He swiftly changed his path and began sprinting with all haste towards the Uchiha District.

* * *

 _Uchiha District, Konoha_

There was blood and corpses strewn about the street and the courtyard in front of the Uchiha Clan Complex. Naruto landed in the center of the courtyard and immediately unleashed his Claws. Whoever had infiltrated and made a mockery of the Uchiha Clan was very strong. He needed to be careful. He entered through the doorway, the door itself a pile of ash.

More bodies were within. The lethal wound seemed to be from a short blade, perhaps belonging to a ninjato or chokuto. There was a definite trail to follow. The corpses all seemed to be leading to where the Uchiha clan head and his wife resided. If the killer was already there...He made haste to the master bedroom.

* * *

 _Academy entrance, five minutes before_

Saiyuri Uchiha was confused. Normally her mother would come to pick her up and she would follow her mother home. She wasn't here, and Academy had ended ten minutes ago. What was going on? She knew the way home and decided to head there herself. But the first thing she saw upon entering the street that led home was...bodies in the street.

She very carefully kneeled over one, and after a degree of hesitance, moved the corpse around so she could see it's face. Upon seeing the face, she gasped in horror, and let go of the corpse. The body of was of Teyaki Uchiha, the proprietor of Uchiha Senbei. She had a good relationship with him, she would always come to Uchiha Senbei the moment she came home from Academy. He was like an uncle to her and her brother Itachi. Who killed him? And what of the rest of her clan? She sprinted towards her clan complex as fast as she could, praying all the while that everyone was safe.

There were even more bodies. They were everywhere. There was so much blood... Saiyuri withheld the bile rising in her throat and entered the clan building. More bodies. What happened to her parents? A surge of fear struck her. What if they had been killed as well? She ran towards her parent's bedroom, ignoring the dead bodies and the blood. She had to see her parents!

She stopped in the doorway. Petrified. The killer was visible now. It was her brother Itachi. He was gripping onto a blood stained Anbu issue ninjato. He had his blade reared back, her parents were on their knees, facing her. Their eye's widened when they saw her. Her father was the first to die, the ninjato slicing through his neck cleanly. Her mother was about to be next. But she was saved by someone she had never expected to appear.

'Naruto?'

Naruto had appeared quite literally out of nowhere, having dropped from one of the rafters in the ceiling. His arms had been replaced by what could only be described as claws, and those same claws had blocked the ninjato set to end her mother's life. A quick swipe was ducked by Itachi, but the front kick had impacted squarely into his stomach. His eye's, the Sharingan within them, widened in pain, and a quick cry of pain issued from his mouth, before he was suddenly propelled forward, impacting and breaking through the wooden wall, landing somewhere out in the backyard.

* * *

 _Naruto's POV_

Naruto turned to look at Mikoto, she was in a state of shock, and looked up at him. She mouthed out 'thank you' then looking towards Saiyuri. She immediately ran to her mother, being caught in her arms, sobs soon filled the room as Saiyuri was no longer capable of withholding her tears. Naruto looked at the scene for a few moments, before exiting through the new hole in the wall, intent on pursuing Itachi.

Itachi was struggling to get up when Naruto entered the backyard. He spoke.

"Naruto...what are you doing here?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I was intrigued as to why people were screaming over here. I didn't expect you to be killing off your clan. I thought you were a pacifist."

Itachi didn't show any reaction. Or at least he thought he did. No human was capable of fully suppressing their body language. Itachi was lying. Naruto didn't need to mention that to Itachi however.

"I never cared about my clan. I only ever cared about power. This was just a test Naruto."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"A test you say? Well now. You certainly had everyone fooled. Even me. But makes you think you'll escape here alive?"

Itachi didn't show any reaction, like before.

"This."

The Sharingan changed in his eyes, becoming a vaguely shuriken-like pinwheel with three individual 'blades'. Then he made eye contact with Naruto. And he felt his consciousness fade away.

"Tsukiyomi."

* * *

 _Tsukiyomi World?_

Hell.

That was the only thing that Itachi could describe this entire place.

He could hear nothing but the tortured screams of the damned, it rained nothing but boiling blood, the air REEKED of madness, and the only beautiful thing he could find in this place was the glass floor and even then it was ruined by all the mangled deformed bodies trapped underneath.

 **"You… should not… be… here…"**

He turned to look at…

…

…

…

What?

What?

What? What? What? What? What?! What?! What?! What?! WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?!

Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!

He turned to runaway only for a tendril to wrap itself around him and drag further into the darkness…

* * *

 _Uchiha Clan House, Konoha_

Saiyuri had followed Naruto to the backyard, ignoring the pleading of her mother. Itachi was there, staring into Naruto eyes, completely motionless. Naruto was as still as a statue as well. Less than three seconds passed before the two began moving once more, Itachi swiftly placing a hand over his left eye, blood streaming from it, resembling tears. Naruto momentarily swayed, before massaging his forehead with his claws.

Itachi looked at Naruto with pure fear & terror in his eyes.

"What the hell are you?"

Naruto grinned, a nasty sadistic grin.

"I am… hate… I... am… madness… I… am… **carnage**."

Itachi grimly nodded at that.

"I see that now. Regardless, you are a threat now because of that."

Naruto barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, cause you can definitely fight in that condition."

Itachi cringed at that. He knew he stood no chance against Naruto. Those claws of his looked especially looked very deadly.

"Itachi...What happened? I was expecting you a few minutes ago."

A sudden new voice caused Naruto to whip his head to the right. There was a man there. With a strange orange mask with decorative black flames painted on it. It only possessed one eye hole. Long, spiky black hair, with jaw-length bangs. He was wearing a black cloak, as well as a black bodysuit underneath. Dark gray leather gloves covered his hands, and his outfit was completed with black pants and black ninja sandals.

Naruto felt an immeasurable rage when he looked at this masked man, and he had no idea why. Said masked man seemed to notice Naruto's stare.

"Ah. That's why. The Uzumaki child. I assume he was giving you difficulty then."

Itachi lightly nodded.

Naruto frowned. Who was this man? Why did he feel so angry just by looking at him? He curbed his rage and spoke.

"Who in the hell are you?"

The masked man chuckled. It greatly annoyed Naruto.

"Oh you needn't worry about that Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened. This masked fucker knew his name? Who the hell was he?!

The masked man stopped laughing and moved to Itachi's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll be leaving now."

Naruto reared back, and leapt forward, claws at the ready to slice through the two men.

"Like hell you will!"

His strike never connected, as the two men suddenly vanished in a swirling vortex.

Naruto scarcely managed to stop himself from face planting and looked back at where Itachi and the masked man once were. An expression of rage twisted his features.

"Goddammit! Son of a bitch!"

* * *

 _A few hours later_

The Hokage as well as a team of Anbu, and every available Jonin had arrived to the Uchiha District. They were shocked at how the clan had been decimated, and even more shocked to learn that Naruto had helped prevent the deaths of two clan members.

Mikoto and her daughter Saiyuri were rushed to the hospital, to treat wounds more damaging than any cut or bruise. They were assigned a Yamanaka for psychotherapy and would attend weekly sessions.

Naruto meanwhile was off to the side of all the action. Watching as body bags were hauled away on stretchers, to the Konoha Morgue. The Hokage walked up to him, a smile on his wrinkled face.

"Naruto, I can't thank you enough for helping those two. You did a very good thing today."

Naruto shrugged off his praise.

"It's fine. Saiyuri is the closest thing I have to a friend to be honest."

In truth, Naruto didn't know why he protected her or her mother. He only ever had a few passing conversations with Saiyuri personally, with the bio-clone having spent more time with her. Granted, the memories the bio-clone had were easily passed to him, but nothing there really explained why he went out of his way to save her life.

Was it because she was one of the few friendly faces he knew? Perhaps. Naruto would have to think these questions over later. A Yamanaka was asking him to fill out a report about the newly coined 'Uchiha Massacre'.

He could see why Old Man Hokage hated paperwork so much.

* * *

Six years had passed since the Uchiha Massacre. Saiyuri and Mikoto had been successfully treated, nipping any instabilities in the bud. On occasion Saiyuri would have nightmares, but they had been occurring with less and less frequency over the years. The growing friendship with Naruto was a key component in her recovery. The two had grown close after Naruto helped prevent Mikoto's death, and Naruto could quite easily say that he had actually made a true friend in her.

The bio-clone was no longer needed and Naruto wanted to attend Graduation personally anyway. Zeus shouting at him about it totally had nothing to do with it.

It was certainly a surreal experience. Naruto had never thought he would ever grow close to any human ever. His nature, and the truth of what he was had him thinking that he would always be feared and ostracized by humanity, who were incapable of truly understanding him. Those thoughts were quickly shattered by Saiyuri. The two were almost never seen too far apart in Academy following the Massacre, with Saiyuri, while still somewhat somber over the incident, was very talkative around Naruto.

It was a comical sight to be honest. The Uchiha Heiress, a member of a clan renowned for their stoic and usually arrogant demeanor, was this outgoing, friendly young woman. While her companion meanwhile couldn't differ more in personality, with his quiet, reclusive self, and a tendency to point out and snark about numerous flaws in people he disliked.

Most just couldn't understand how these two were so friendly without clashing with one another. Naruto was of that same sentiment but wasn't complaining.

Naruto had grown(or at least changed his appearance to appear to grow) well. He was currently 16 years old and was very tall for his age, easily towering over most of the adult populace in Konoha. His body was well-built, while still being deceptively lean. His clothing hadn't changed, except for being more skin-tight showing off his figure (coincidently causing many to believe that he's actually a girl due to certain large bulges on his chest). He cut a rather imposing beautiful figure, with his height, wardrobe, and overall appearance more than enough to make even hardened Jonin slightly uncomfortable around him.

Saiyuri meanwhile had grown into a rather beautiful young woman, with lustrous raven hair tied back into a pony that reached to her mid-back. She was wearing a blue high collared vest, with short white sleeves. A pair of white shorts and dark blue ninja sandals. A brown sash went across her waist, with a pouch for kunai, shuriken, and chakra and blood pills as well. She took the notion of becoming a kunoichi of Konoha seriously.

The rest of the class had grown as well, excluding Sakura, of course.

Today was the day the class would graduate, and there was an air of excitement. The long road to gain their hitai-ate and officially become ninjas of Konoha had finally come to an end. Naruto was excited as well, he didn't show it obviously, and it wasn't the idea of becoming a shinobi that was the cause of his giddiness either. The Hokage would finally reveal everything about his past. And yet there was still some uncertainty as well. He was beginning to remember some of his earliest memories now. Quick flashes of a red-haired woman (His mother?) and the Yondaime. (Something that still rubbed Naruto the wrong way). He still couldn't access the very first memories however and Naruto wasn't certain he really wanted to. A sense of dread always came over him, even when he was just looking at those damn tunnels. He could swear he saw blood covering the walls of those tunnels as well, not something that really made Naruto ready and raring to find out what those memories were.

On a brighter note, the old apartment that the Hokage had given to him was now entirely condemned and set to be deconstructed later on in the year. His new residence, the bunker in the Forest of Death was working swimmingly. He would often capture any wildlife that strayed too far, and perform experiments on them, eerily similar to the bunker's former owner. Naruto wasn't too concerned however. He always ensured that the animals were properly sedated, and in the event they were to be consumed by the virus, they wouldn't feel a thing.

But more interesting, was how some of the animals would actually respond well to infection. They became stronger, smarter, and most peculiar of all, they seemed to look to him as a leader of sorts. Was he somehow gaining his own infected army? It would definitely be useful. If shit hit the fan, those infected animals would certainly be of use if only to distract Konoha shinobi, while he made a swift retreat.

The animals had become something similar to what Zeus had encountered in Manhattan, while being much more evolved. He tried recreating the Hunters, but they were much more powerful and more intelligent. Naruto termed these Evolved Hunters, Brawlers.

Carnivorous giant earthworms (The Forest of Death certainly deserved its name) became similar to Hydras, but larger, and as a result stronger as well. They weren't too smart but made up for it with sheer resilience and terror factor. Seeing a building sized worm start eating your comrades would definitely turn a few trousers brown.

He once accidently infected a strip of pure muscle tissue and created something similar to the old Hunters except more frog-like and they had long barbed tongues that they could use a whipping, strangling & piercing weapons. He termed these beings Lickers.

Even more interesting was how plants could be infected as well. Naruto was of the thought that the Blacklight virus could only properly infect and consume animal cells. But he was wrong, infected plants like herbs, ferns and even flowering plants would become masters of deception. They still retained their appearance, but the moment a prey item was in range, it would strike with flailing tendrils and even toothed mouths. The mouths weren't really useful for eating, so instead a pitcher plant like, 'stomach' of sorts where the plant's roots once were, was used to break down a kill. The tendrils would drag it down into the earth and place it within the 'stomach'. Sometimes the plant wouldn't kill a prey item and just drag it down upon grasping it. Said prey would then digest slowly and painfully in a slow acting acid and eventually die off once the brain was consumed. It would be useful as a torture implement. The grass took on a bladed appearance and would 'jump' at victims, piercing through their flesh and liquidating them from the inside out; he termed them Quills.

Naruto mostly used the infected to guard his bunker. A few Brawlers & Lickers would patrol the area around the bunker, while the infected plants would form a circular perimeter around the bunker. If someone or something managed to get past the outermost perimeter. The Brawlers & Lickers would descend upon them.

And if they managed to get past the Brawlers & Lickers and enter the vicinity of the bunker, Zeus would take care of them.

Naruto was broken out his thoughts when Iruka announced the written portion of the exam that would give the Academy students their hitai-ate. A quiet sigh was released from him. He hated written tests. Not because he was bad at them, but because they're just so boring. He grit his teeth, and began filling out the answers on the exam, and was finished within five minutes. Damn. Now he had to wait for an hour and a half. Oh well. Might as well get some sleep.

Naruto placed his head down on his desk, covered his head completely with his arms, and closed his eyes.

"It's time to turn in your exams!"

He was jarred awake when Iruka yelled out. He glanced at the clock and, yep, an hour and a half had passed.

'That was a nice nap. Now the hopefully fulfilling part is next.'

Iruka ordered the class to exit the classroom, and student's would be called alphabetically to take the practical exam, consisting only of being able to perform a henge, substitution and creating a clone. It wasn't even a solid clone either. Just an illusory one.

'Damn. I'm at the bottom of the list. More fucking waiting.' Naruto thought, more than a little peeved at just how damn long it was taking. He could be patient though, and waited as students were called, and either walked out dejectedly, or with a shiny new hitai-ate on them. The clan heirs all passed, not much of a surprise there. Sakura passed somehow. He didn't want to get into the details of this majorly flawed exam. And finally he was called. Took long enough.

He entered the classroom and walked in front of the teacher's desk. Iruka was sitting down, a smile on his face. Mizuki was nearby, but Naruto could very easily tell that smile of his was fake.

"Okay Naruto, the exam is simple. All you need to do is perform a successful henge, substitution and a clone technique."

Naruto cocked his head as he performed a sealless henge. Smoke covered his form, before eventually retreating. And what they saw was rather shocking.

Naruto had performed a perfect henge of the Sandaime Hokage. Pipe and all. The only thing that was off was the lack of expression on the elderly kage's face. It was more than a little unnerving.

"E-Excellent Naruto. Please perform a substitution now."

Naruto vanished in a poof of smoke, and Iruka suddenly found himself in Naruto's place. His legs kicked up on the desk.

Iruka had a very good reason to be surprised. To be able to substitute with a living person was an exceedingly difficult task. One that even most kages struggled with. The fact that Naruto could perform such an act, especially with his abnormally large reserves spoke volumes of his skill.

"Very impressive Naruto! Do you mind if I return to my desk now?"

Iruka was once more in his chair, and Naruto standing in front of him.

"Alright. Just one more technique. Just do a successful clone. It only needs to be one."

Naruto nodded before speaking up.

"I can't use the normal clone technique, so I came up with my own spin of it. Mind if I use that instead?"

Iruka nodded. And was swift to cover his mouth in shock and slight horror as Naruto began to literally split in half before his eyes.

A ripping sound echoed throughout the classroom, and suddenly there were two Naruto's in the room now. Both looking amused at Iruka's reaction.

"Um..."

"Er..."

Uh oh. It seemed Iruka and Mizuki were too shocked to speak in proper sentences.

"So..."

Both Naruto's spoke in unison.

"Can I get my hitai-ate now?"

Iruka and Mizuki nodded slowly in unison. Naruto grabbed the last hitai-ate off the desk and walked out the door.

"Uh..."

Naruto suppressed a chuckle as the two chunin mumbled in the classroom. It was always funny seeing someone react to his true powers. Saiyuri walked up to him, she seemed concerned for some reason.

"Naruto..." Her voice was melodic. "Where's your hitai-ate?"

Naruto raised his left hand, it was holding a hitai-ate.

"Right here. What? You thought I was going to fail?"

Naruto suddenly placed a hand on his forehead and took a dramatic pose.

"I didn't know you thought so lowly of me, Saiyuri. I can feel my heart breaking apart as I speak."

Saiyuri lost the concerned expression, and one of panic replaced it.

"W-What?! No, No, I didn't think that!"

She was making wild hand gestures. It certainly made for an amusing sight. Such so that Naruto couldn't quite keep up the act, and broke into a few chuckles.

Saiyuri noticed this and pouted. It was definitely a cute expression.

"Mou, Naruto...you're mean."

Naruto smirked.

"Oh relax. I was just having fun."

Iruka and Mizuki seemed to break out of their shocked states and asked the remaining student's to enter the classroom again. The class was informed that they would now be assigned teams, and a jonin-sensei.

He was assigned a team with Saiyuri, Things were looking up. Then Sakura was assigned to their team.

'Oh you have got to fucking kidding me.' Naruto silently seethed. 'I have to spend my time as a genin with that waste of space? Fuck.'

Their sensei was apparently one Kakashi Hatake. Naruto knew this guy. He had read up on the bingo book, and even owned the newest edition.

He was the son of the White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, who had committed seppuku after a disastrous mission in which the jonin squad he led was decimated with him as the only survivor. He was the sole surviving student of the Yondaime Hokage.

'Oh great. The student of the man I hate the most in the world. Fucking beautiful'

The other team's jonin sensei had already picked up their team, and now only Team 7 was left.

"Okay, seriously? Where the hell is this guy? I'm just about ready to say fuck it and leave."

Saiyuri did her best to calm him. It didn't work too well.

"Maybe he's busy, Naruto."

Naruto scoffed at that.

"Busy my ass. Lazy more like."

Saiyuri sighed, before looking at Sakura, a smile on her face.

"So Sakura..."

Naruto tuned out their conversation. They mostly conversed about things that Naruto didn't really care about.

The door opening jarred Naruto from his sleep. And Kakashi walked in.

He was a man of average height, with impossibly spiky hair, jutting upwards, entirely defying gravity. He wore the standard Jonin outfit. Black shirt, dark green vest. Black pants with a large pouch on the right thigh, with bandages on the ankles, and black shinobi sandals.

He had a lazy demeanor, with a face mask obscuring his lower face, and nose from view. His hitai-ate was tilted down, covering his left eye. The visible eye was half-lidded, and looked at Team 7 with boredom clearly visible.

"My first impression of you is..."

Team 7 leaned forward at that.

"I find you all incredibly boring."

Saiyuri and Sakura fell out of their chairs at that. Naruto closed his eyes and did his very best to silence the voices screaming at him to tear out Kakashi's tongue.

Kakashi spoke again.

"Meet me on the rooftop."

Kakashi was about to exit the building when Naruto spoke next.

"Saiyuri, Sakura get up to the rooftop. I'll talk with Kakashi about tardiness for a while."

The two girls were somewhat confused, and Kakashi was interested at what Naruto was going to say, so he decided to stay in the classroom a little while longer. The two female members of Team 7 walked past, sparing a glance back at Kakashi, who waved them off. The two then proceeded towards the roof access stairwell.

Naruto stood, walked to the door, and closed it. Kakashi realized Naruto was much taller than he originally thought, standing a full head taller than himself. Naruto turned towards Kakashi, and Kakashi couldn't quite explain the feeling of intense terror he felt when those blue-silver eyes locked onto his own.

"Now..." Naruto spoke, his voice dropping several octaves, "We're going to head up to the roof, but in style." Ending the sentence with a sinister grin.

Kakashi didn't get a chance to talk back, before tendrils suddenly erupted from Naruto's back and wrapped around him.

* * *

 _Academy Roof_

"What do you think Naruto's saying to Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked Saiyuri. She didn't know Naruto too well. Her parents had told her to be careful around him, but he never seemed to interact much with other people besides Saiyuri.

Said Uchiha shrugged. She had the strange feeling something very odd and/or funny was going to happen.

"AAAAAAH! NARUTOOOOOOO! LET ME GOOOOOOO!"

Kakashi's terrified screaming had the two young women swiftly run to and look over the edge, and sure enough Kakashi was there. Bound in what appeared to be black tentacles coming from Naruto's back. Naruto himself was climbing up the building, his fingers digging into the wooden walls of the academy.

"Nope!" Naruto yelled out, oddly cheery. "This is your punishment! Now stop screaming and take it like a man!"

Kakashi screamed even louder in response.

Naruto had eventually reached the edge of the roof, with Saiyuri and Sakura standing well away. The tendril-bound Kakashi was suddenly reared back, as if in preparation to be thrown.

Kakashi's single eye widened to the point it resembled a dinner plate.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! DON'T DOOOOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIT!" The last two words drawn out as Kakashi was tossed with fantastic speed towards the opposite side of the roof. He impacted with enough force to nearly break through the lip of the roof. His visible eye was replaced a swirl, as he moaned in both pain, and dizziness.

Saiyuri and Sakura turned to look at Naruto, who had an innocent expression.

"What? He deserved it."

The two girls looked at each other for a brief moment. Then broke out into hysterical laughter.

* * *

Author's Notes

Hey again everyone!

Unlike the previous fic Naruto keeps the Hammerfists. In the games Heller can use the ability for are effective attacks plus the ground spike ability is more widespread. It's definitely effective when facing a group of shinobi plus as I explained Shinobi in general aren't actually very good at handling hits of tremendous strength unlike the Infected.

Also Itachi briefly got a glimpse of Naruto's UNCENSORED soul which was enough to almost put him into insanity. He'll be plagued by nightmares which will deteriorate his sanity after some time.

Yes these are the same Lickers from Resident Evil only without the exposed brains.

The Quills are based off of the Beach Quills from Darwin IV universe.

If anyone payed attention I made a foreshadowing of a new type of Infected that will appear later on. Heres a hint... Marvel.

Anyway till next time! ;)


	5. New Self

Chapter 5: New Self

To answer some reviews:

KelpRope: I've said it before & I'll say it again I ASKED erenia0324 if I could adopt his/her work. He/she said YES!

doomqwer: Some creatures & a few deities

RallenXIII: I watch Death Battle so don't worry. Also thanks for the support

TheCutestLilPrincess: He has far more control over the virus than Zeus. He can easily perform human activities without infecting others. Besides he can easily turn them into Evolved anyway.

norris321: Those are some good ideas. I might integrate them if I could figure out how

Cole shiryu: He's a hermaphrodite that identifies as a male.

Jojotheshadow: I might have him go to the Doom universe instead.

* * *

Kakashi had recovered rather quickly, though it was very noticeable how he would occasionally grasp at the back of his head and wince in pain.

"Right..." Kakashi drawled out. "Let's introduce ourselves."

Sakura frowned.

"How should we?"

Kakashi and Naruto in unison stared at her, both dumbfounded at how she apparently didn't know how to introduce herself. Sakura noticed this, and a furious expression took over her face.

"I mean what should we say! Not how to introduce myself!"

Kakashi and Naruto summarily ignored her and Kakashi continued his previous sentence.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted..." casting a glance at Sakura, who proceeded to flush slightly in embarrassment. "I was going to introduce myself. Now, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm not going to tell you what I like or dislike. I have a dream... and a few hobbies."

The three graduates stared at Kakashi in either outrage, in Sakura's case, slight annoyance, from Saiyuri, and Naruto... was somehow sleeping standing up. Saiyuri proceeded to punch him lightly in the shoulder and interrupted his micro-nap.

Kakashi looked at Naruto with a slightly twitching eyebrow.

'Oh boy...Minato-sensei...You better appreciate this.'

"Okay. Now tall and brooding. You're next."

Naruto momentarily glared at Kakashi, before relenting.

"Alright fine. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are Saiyuri Uchiha," Said girl proceeded to blush at that. "and a certain… caretaker of mine's. My dislikes are the ignorant, the prejudiced, and humanity in general. My dream is freedom, and I don't have any hobbies."

Kakashi frowned underneath his mask as Naruto stated his dislikes and his dream. It wasn't too much of a stretch to believe that Konoha has altered Naruto's view on humanity and not on a good light. He'd have to watch out for that along with this 'caretaker' of his.

"Okay, you next pinky."

Sakura silently fumed at how this lazy jonin remarked at her hair color. She didn't choose it herself! Calming her anger, she introduced herself.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are make-up, and cute boys. My dislikes are ugly people. My dream is to find the one perfect man." Proceeding to look upwards, in a daydream state, further attracting Naruto's ire. "My hobbies are making myself and my girlfriends look pretty." chirping out her hobbies in a tone that made Naruto sincerely want to tear her throat out.

Kakashi once more frowned under his mask. It seemed Sakura was still in the civilian mentality. He'd have to fix that soon, otherwise she wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in an actual combat situation.

"Uh-huh. Righty then. You next Saiyuri."

Naruto likely would have pointed out how Kakashi referred to Saiyuri by name but was too busy day-dreaming about killing Sakura in numerous, horrific ways. He didn't like the naive so what?

Saiyuri then introduced herself.

"My name is Saiyuri Uchiha. My likes are my mother, and Naruto." Not quite being able to suppress the slight flush to her cheeks. "My dislikes are the prejudiced. My dream is find my brother, and..." That derailed her train of thought somewhat. What did she want to do with Itachi? The desire for revenge within her was certainly strong, but always tempered by what Naruto had said when she brought it up to him.

'Revenge is a useless thing. It doesn't make you feel better. It doesn't make things right. But that's just killing out of revenge. Living out of revenge is even better. Show the person that wronged you, that whatever they did didn't affect you in the least. Live a happy, and long life. Leave that tragedy behind in the past, where it belongs. Revenge is sweet. It's even better when you can spit in the face of the person you hate the most by living happily despite that pain deep inside.'

Saiyuri did hate her brother intensely. She still didn't know why Itachi killed off her clan, and nearly killed their mother as well. That was when the answer came. She would find him and get those answers. Then she'd leave him. To live a happy life. Just like Naruto said.

"And... get answers from him."

Kakashi eye widened slightly. Saiyuri didn't want revenge? The Uchiha were the stuff of legend, especially with their 'Curse of Hatred'. It was certainly a good thing to see that Saiyuri wasn't afflicted by said Curse.

"My hobby is spending time with my mother, and Naruto." Saiyuri finished her introduction, a slight smile on her face.

Kakashi hummed slightly in what appeared to be consideration before nodding his head.

"Good, at least two of you seem like good ninja material."

Sakura spoke up, slightly confused at what Kakashi meant.

"Wait, two of us?"

Kakashi ignored her.

"Alright, may as well drop the bomb. You three haven't graduated yet."

That certainly got a response from the trio.

"WHAT!?" Sakura yelled out, very nearly deafening Saiyuri, and even Kakashi had to cover his ears with his hands. She would have shouted again, but a pale, and extremely cold hand swiftly came over her mouth. Blue-silver eyes stared at her, an infinite rage burning within.

"Shut your mouth before I rip your tongue out." Naruto hissed out, an otherworldly echo in his voice.

Sakura very quickly nodded, it looked as though her head was about to fly off her shoulders. Naruto released her, and wiped his hand on his jacket, mumbling about loud pink-haired monkeys and something to do with intestines.

Saiyuri was very much confused, and slightly angered by what Kakashi said. She would have gone over to Sakura to see if she was alright, but there were currently more pressing matters.

"How do we graduate for real then?"

Kakashi seemed to smile at that. The mask over his face obscured his mouth, but his eye seemed to show his smile, curving into a strange shape resembling an inverted 'U'.

"Another test!"

'Seriously?! Another fucking test!?'

Naruto would have likely punched Kakashi in the face for even thinking of such a thing, but restrained himself. He already very nearly crossed the line with the tentacles. He honestly didn't want to hear an earful from Old Man Hokage.

He decided to question what the test was going to be about.

"So what the fuck is the test then?"

In his own special way.

Kakashi smile seemed to grow at that.

"You'll just have to find out for yourself. Meet me at Training Ground #3 tomorrow morning at 6 AM sharp."

Naruto eye's gained a slight red glow at that, and a slightly maniacal smirk tugged at his lips.

"I expect you to actually be there. Or should I drag you kicking and screaming all the while? Actually, I think you'll just get the ' **Express Tour** '."

Kakashi swiftly responded to that threat. He did NOT want to manhandled by those damn, frigging tentacles again. He wanted to protect his chastity! Naruto probably would ram a tentacle or two, right up his ass! All the while laughing!

"NO! NOT THE TENTACLES AGAIN!"

Of course, Naruto being Naruto, he brought out the tentacles again, and immediately wrapped one around Kakashi's ankle and lifted him up, until he was at eye-level with Naruto.

"I want you to promise, you won't be late. **Ever again**. Do you understand?"

Kakashi frantically nodded.

"YES! KAKASHI WILL BE A GOOD BOY! KAKASHI WILL ALWAYS BE A GOOD BOY! I PROMISE!"

Naruto chuckled slightly, before releasing him, dropping him head first onto the roof.

"Yes. You are a good boy."

He turned to Saiyuri.

"Saiyuri, I wish you luck with the test."

Then Sakura.

"Sakura...don't get in our way."

Ignoring the streams of tears flowing from Sakura's eyes, he turned once more, facing the Forest of Death, and leaped away. Landing somewhere around in the Forest.

Saiyuri really wanted to know where Naruto got his powers from. Not cause she wanted them, she was just curious about her best friend.

Sakura walked down the stairwell and made her way home, Saiyuri as well.

Kakashi was currently in the fetal position, clutching onto his Icha-Icha book like it was a security blanket. Tears were streaming from his visible eye.

"You'll protect me from the mean Naruto right, Icha-Icha-chan?"

Kakashi momentarily broke out his fetal position when he realized that he never got to mention that his new students weren't supposed to eat breakfast the day of the test. He then proceeded to begin crying even harder.

* * *

 _Naruto's bunker_

Naruto landed a few feet from the entrance. The door automatically opened in response to him. That was another security measure. The majority of the armored doors within had been destroyed as a result of an impatient Naruto or Zeus.

Speaking of Zeus... She had been acting rather strangely lately. At times she would often glance at Naruto before looking away. There were times where she would disappear without notifying him. Often times she would be distracted and it will take time to grab it back.

He decided to look for Zeus in the bunker. She usually resided in the lowermost levels of the bunker. The elevator shaft was a good way down. It was quite literally just an elevator shaft. The flattened remains of the elevator was at the very bottom. Naruto had accidentally mis-stepped and fell down the shaft. He wasn't hurt, of course. The elevator...not so lucky.

He dropped down, landing on, and further compressing the destroyed elevator at the lowermost level of the bunker.

"Zeus?"

No answer came.

Naruto frowned. He was really starting to get worried.

"Okay seriously, Zeus come out. You've been acting weirdly lately."

Yet more silence.

He eventually rounded at a corner and came to a sight that shocked him still.

There was Zeus wearing what could only be described as… a pure white summer dress. The dress emphasized all her curves while exposing the top of her ample bosom. She was looking herself at the mirror posing quite suggestively, a sight that would have had most men faint from bloodloss

She seemed quite happy about how she looked right now. She then blushed as a thought seemingly came to mind.

However she then noticed Naruto through the mirror and turned quickly to find Naruto gaping at her.

The two stared at each other, stunned to silence, before Zeus was the first to react.

"Get out!"

Before he react he was punched by an embarrassed Zeus using Musclemass, turning him into a bloody paste in the wall.

* * *

The two were sitting across each other, with Zeus looking at the ground embarrassed by her actions.

Naruto crossed his arms and looked at Zeus with a raised eyebrow.

"So... is there a reason why you… did that?"

From what he knows about her, as well as the memories he got, Zeus wouldn't be caught dead in a dress. She was more like a tomboy than a girly girl.

Zeus lightly rubbed her upper arm. A nervous tic from one of the numerous people she had consumed.

"This… this whole thing… Is a fresh start for me. Back in my old world it was all about surviving and finding out who… who Alex Mercer is."

He knows she meant finding out who she thought she was.

"Since all of that was over I wanted to… truly leave the past behind me and have an identity of my own."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"Well if you want something of your own then perhaps you should change your name."

She looked curiously at him.

"The name Zeus was a codename that Blackwatch gave to you, it wasn't truly a name. Plus Zeus does sound like a guy's name."

She nodded her head in agreement.

"So what name do think suits me."

Naruto took a long look at her which caused her to squirm a bit.

"How about… Hera."

She smiled radiantly.

"I like it."

Naruto smiled lightly in return. It was hard trying to remain all brooding around Ze... Hera when she was all happy like that.

"It's good that you finally let go her. Mercer was a definite bitch."

Hera giggled at that. It was comparable to the tinkling of small bells.

"So... did you graduate?"

Naruto frowned at that.

"Not quite, I have the hitai-ate," flicking said band, which wrapped around his left bicep. "but apparently there's a third, secret test. If I pass that, I become a genin."

Hera frowned at that as well. That seemed somewhat redundant, considering the quality of most non-clan Konoha genin.

"Maybe it's to determine whether the members of the genin squad are compatible with one another?"

Naruto closed his eyes and took on a thoughtful expression.

"Perhaps." He opened his eyes. "Or it could be to see how good of a team player you are."

Hera raised an eyebrow at that.

"Teamwork? I suppose it's good for a squad of relatively inexperienced genin. How'd you come up with that conclusion?

Naruto was about to go on a lecture, but a slight glare from Hera quickly dissuaded him of such a notion.

"Teamwork is basically the foundation of the Konoha military. A combined effort of a single squad is often the deciding factor in a battle. Or so the shinobi say."

Hera nodded at that. It certainly sounded like a good idea, on paper at least. It's entirely impossible to predict the outcome of a battle, unless you were to somehow possess total knowledge of the enemy's tactics, numbers, and had developed successful counter-tactics, but you'd have to be fighting one particular foe for a very long time and often everything about your foe would change, tactics, the size of their forces. It was more than likely that the antiquated idea of teamwork, by Konoha standards at least, was no longer effective in this current era.

"Well, I suggest you just play along. You told me about that girl, Sakura, and how she was useless in combat. Saiyuri isn't so incompetent, but she doesn't have experience. Kakashi seems to be lazy and will likely slack off in training the others. You might just be the linchpin holding that team together."

Her expression grew concerned.

"You sure you can handle that?"

Naruto nodded.

"I'm certain. Kakashi seems lazy, but I'm certain he's just hiding his skill. A key concept in the world of shinobi is deception. Sakura will certainly weigh us down, but I don't think she's of much use in a combat role to begin with. She has very small reserves, and thus, possesses good control over it. She will certainly be of use as a medic-nin. All that's needed is to avail her of the civilian mindset and desensitize her to the violence one would find on the battlefield."

Naruto had begun pacing now, hands locked behind his back. Hera withheld a sigh. It seemed she couldn't quite stop him from lecturing.

"Saiyuri is a unique case. Her Sharingan, will most certainly allow her to be very proficient in genjutsu, and her katon, and raiton chakra nature means she will be able to use those devastating katon techniques that the Uchiha are famed for."

Naruto smiled slightly.

"Her raiton chakra nature, rare in Konoha, and almost impossible to find in the Uchiha clan, means she might be able to learn Kakashi's Chidori, and Raikiri techniques. With a degree of experience, she will certainly become a very strong ninja in the future."

Hera grinned in a teasing manner.

"Wow Naruto. From the way you were talking about her, I'd say you were in love with her."

Naruto was immediately broken out his lecturing stance. He whipped around to Hera, identifying the teasing smile on her face. He immediately crossed his arms and tried to play off the statement.

"What? Me? In love? Yeah right."

There was a very slight blush on his cheeks. It would have likely been undetectable if he wasn't so pale.

'I always love it when I can get Naruto embarrassed.'

Thought Hera.

The young man needed to try and drop his serious demeanor to try and enjoy his youth while he still had it. He wouldn't die any time soon, and indeed, it was all too likely that Naruto would never die. Hera was of the same condition, but she was never alive to begin with.

Naruto, once upon a time, 16 years ago was born human, and mortal. Now though, he was like her, with a body composed entirely of the Blacklight virus. But he possessed a human soul. Or at least he used to. When Naruto's soul was revealed to her, she was fairly certain a human soul wasn't supposed to look like that.

Naruto had stolen numerous books from the Konoha Library about numerous subjects. Mathematics, History, Chakra, Jutsu theory, and books about the supernatural world.

Yokai, the Bijuu, and spirits were discussed in the books. She had read them out of boredom a few years ago and discovered something that was very concerning.

A chapter spoke of the human soul, and even provided a description, and a hand-drawn image of what it looked like. The human soul could take many forms, but the most common one was a simple ball of light.

That certainly rung alarms in her head. She had seen just a small glimpse of Naruto's soul (a censored version of that) and it had nearly drove her mad.

Naruto was well aware just how twisted his soul really is however he shows no concern of this and claimed it will not hinder him from his goals.

But Hera still worried. How couldn't she? Naruto was the first thing she encountered in this new world. He was a source of knowledge about this strange environment. Beyond that, he was likely the only other one of her kind and she truly cared about him. Dana was but a distant memory now, and one she would likely forget soon enough.

But enough of these morbid thoughts. Naruto had a test to complete tomorrow. And then the Hokage would reveal everything about his past to him. He had been patient for long enough. It was time to clear away that fog of mystery and what he would find there, would change him forever.

* * *

Naruto awoke from an oddly pleasant dream. He strained to remember the details, but knew it involved Hera, and Saiyuri, for some reason. He was fairly certain it had something to do with sex. Maybe. Oh well. He had a test to do today. Might as well get there really early. He looked towards the digital clock on the night table beside his bed.

4:00 AM, the clock read in bright green.

Naruto briefly raised an eyebrow.

He usually didn't wake up this early. Eh. Probably just a one-time thing anyway.

He was about to get up when he finally realized there was a strange weight on his chest. He pulled back the covers, and his jaw dropped, and hung slack at what he saw.

Hera was currently lying on his chest, hood pulled back, letting her long shoulder length dark brown hair be revealed to the world. Her breasts were pressing against his chest in such a manner, that Naruto was certain his member would be at full mast, if he didn't possess absolute control over his body. But it was still a very arousing thought. She was lightly snoring.

She seemed to be mumbling slightly in her sleep, and occasionally a quiet giggle would emanate from her slightly parted lips, and she would blush very lightly. It didn't take Naruto too long to realize she was likely having an erotic dream. If the way she was lightly rubbing her thighs together wasn't so obvious.

That got Naruto thinking. What exactly was she dreaming of?

He didn't quite get an opportunity to continue that train of thought before a meteor smashed it before it even left the station. Said meteor being Hera waking up, and looking directly into Naruto's eyes.

The two stared at one another for what seemed like centuries, before Hera blushed heavily and buried her head further into his chest.

"Um...Hera...What were you doing sleeping in my bed?"

Her reply was muffled, but not too difficult to hear.

"I thought you were going to asleep for a while longer! I didn't mean to...!"

Whatever she would have said next was interrupted by a light flick to the top of her head.

Slowly, she raised her head up, blush still evident on her cheeks.

Naruto seemed extremely amused by what was going on. The blond bastard...

"Relax. It's not a problem to me. You could have told me you were going to do this before I nodding off at least."

Slowly, Hera nodded.

"Yeah...I probably should have..." Her cheeks flared again. "Did you by any chance hear w-what I was saying?"

Naruto smirked. Uh-oh...

"Why yes I did. In fact I'm fairly certain I heard my name being moaned, and you telling me to put in another tendril." The smirk became a full-blown grin. "I never knew you were so kinky."

Hera squeaked like a mouse, an incredibly hilarious sight to Naruto, and immediately pulled her hood back up. He was fairly certain her cheeks were literally glowing now, as a faint red light emanated from her hood.

Naruto stopped grinning and had a slight smile on his face instead.

"Hera, like I said I don't mind, and not cause I'm a perv. You're the first friend I made and the only other one who I can truly relate to. I wouldn't mind having that kind of relationship with you."

Hera looked back up at Naruto, cheeks still faintly glowing. She was fairly certain her heart was fluttering now, as nonsensical as that statement was considering she didn't possess any organs at all. Naruto really was a kind and gentle soul. You just had to dig through years worth of pain, misery, and slight insanity. But that kindness was still there.

"Thanks, Naruto..."

"You're welcome. Now do you mind getting off me? I do have a test to do today."

Hera nodded and slowly crawled off Naruto's chest. Naruto clambered out of bed the second she was off.

Naruto stretched, solely out of habit.

He was about to walk through the door, but stopped next to Hera, and then did something she wasn't expecting in the least.

He kissed her. On the cheek. It was still enough to get her to blush as bright as the sun. Not literally of course.

Naruto flashed a teasing grin, before exiting the bedroom.

Hera lightly rubbed where Naruto had kissed her, before smiling.

* * *

 _Bunker Hallway_

Naruto had just exited the bedroom and was very nearly bowled over by an excited Brawler, a severed arm in it's mouth. It's little tail wagging. It made a very interesting juxtaposition, considering the Brawler was much larger than Naruto.

"Gah! Be more careful next ti.." Naruto never finished the sentence when he noticed the arm in the Brawler's mouth.

"Okay. Drop it."

The Brawler did just that.

"Now sit."

Again, the Brawler followed Naruto's orders.

Naruto stared at the Brawler, a serious expression on his face. He kneeled down, picked up the arm and spoke again.

"Show me where you got this arm."

The Brawler seemed all too ready, and proceeded to bound off towards the bunker's exit, Naruto closely following behind, still clutching the arm.

* * *

 _Bunker entrance_

The Brawler leaped out the open doorway, Naruto simply walking out. The Brawler called for him, an extremely loud and deep bark emanating from it's mouth, before it raised it's right foreleg, it's tail standing completely straight, and pointing towards a nearby bush with it's snout reminiscent to a dog.

Naruto walked past the Brawler, dragging a hand across it's head, before heading over to investigate the bush.

Bunker entrance

The Brawler leaped out the open doorway, Naruto simply walking out. The Brawler called for him, an extremely loud and deep bark emanating from it's mouth, before it raised it's right foreleg, it's tail standing completely straight, and pointing towards a nearby bush with it's snout.

Naruto walked past the Brawler, dragging a hand across it's head, before heading over to investigate the bush.

There was a body there. Badly mangled, and missing an arm. Naruto looked down at the arm he was still holding, before tossing it back at the Brawler, said Infected leaping into the air at least twenty feet, catching said limb, landed, and proceeded to gnaw on it.

The clothes were ripped heavily, revealing deep wounds and broken bones, no doubt a result of an attack by a Brawler. A porcelain mask, with an animal design, said mask heavily cracked, and missing a good chunk, revealing the unfortunate Anbu's left eye, clouded over in a milky white film.

Naruto frowned. Why would one of Old Man Hokage's Anbu be out here? He didn't know. Yet, at least.

Corpses still had viable memories, but it was dependent on how long the corpse had been, well a corpse. Even if the brain itself was entirely dead, it's neurons were still in the pattern that dictated some memory. He wouldn't get as much information, but it was better than nothing.

Tendrils erupted from Naruto's back and swarmed the corpse.

* * *

 _Corpse's memories_

 _"Your mission is to search the Forest of Death for Naruto Uzumaki. You will be accompanied by two of your fellow ROOT. I expect you to return successful, and with the location of Uzumaki-san. I will not tolerate failure."_ Naruto couldn't make out the figure speaking. But he could determine that he walked using a cane, and seemed to be either missing his left arm, or had it in a sling of sorts.

 _"Yes, Danzo-sama." A lifeless and emotionless voice monotoned._ It seemed to be the voice of the dead ROOT agent. No more viable memories were left.

* * *

Naruto scoffed at what he saw. ROOT, led by an old crippled named Danzo.

Recently, Danzo had been investigating Naruto, attempting to determine if he was a threat to Konoha in anyway.

But for some strange reason, that Danzo could never quite figure out, any Root agents he sent to investigate would disappear. And the body would never be found either.

Naruto already knew many of Danzo's darkest secrets, how Danzo ordered a trio of orphans in Amegakure to be killed as one of them apparently possessed an extremely powerful doujutsu. Of special note was that the orphans were trained by one Jiraiya of the Sannin. When they survived, and led a rebellion in an effort to overthrow Ame's dictator, Hanzo the Salamander, Danzo allied with Hanzo, and attempted to crush the rebellion, succeeding in killing the leader, Yahiko, but Nagato, the one with the doujutsu, had activated an extremely powerful technique, that eradicated the combined forces of Hanzo and Danzo, as well as killing Hanzo.

Another one of Danzo's darker deeds was how he forced one of his former agents, one Nono Yakushi, to attempt and kill her adopted son, Kabuto.

Naruto growled deeply at that. It was more than enough to enrage him. Naruto truly believed that the bond between family was a sacred bond. If someone was to break that bond, either a member of said family, like Itachi when he nearly killed off the entire Uchiha Clan, or Danzo, who perverted that love between a mother and her son, into a desire to kill. Said individual would get very high up on his shit list. Itachi was in third place. Danzo second, and Minato Namikaze would stay in first for a very long time.

Though Danzo was a great annoyance but he was simply just that... an annoyance. Besides having no respect for privacy (though in all honesty his worries are founded) he didn't actually do anything personal to earn his ire.

Besides from what he's seen Root agents were far better at stealth & assassination missions than normal shinobi which unfortunately gives them FAR lower durability. They were not suited AT ALL for facing heavy hitters like the Infected and they didn't have anything that could actually hurt them.

At the rate he was going Danzo will end up running out of soldiers for him to sacrifice. Although at some point Naruto might finally lose his temper and end him himself.

What Naruto didn't realize was ROOT and Danzo were already at an end…

* * *

Author's Notes

Hey again everyone!

Here Naruto & the team introduce themselves before the bell test.

Zeus tries to embrace her more feminine side and Naruto decides to give her the name Hera for a true brand new start.

As you can see Naruto doesn't see Danzo worth his time because in all honesty they are no threat to him. ROOT has no way of actually combating the Infected which is why Naruto doesn't see them as a threat.

Naruto will not go after Danzo & his men because of this as well as the fact that Danzo has never actually done anything to him..

However don't worry, next chapter will have the destruction of ROOT & Danzo will end up having a fate WORSE than death (though in later chapters he will die).

Next time Bell Test, end of ROOT, & the introduction of new Infected (it's an infamous character from a certain comic book series that's known for it's... insanity & parasitic nature while having a black colour scheme)


	6. Bell Test Venom

Chapter 6: Bell Test... Venom

To answer some reviews:

kusvlin: FUCK... YOU

koseta.a: I adopted it with permission from the author so of course a majority of it is going to remain the same

Apples are cool: I think you'll enjoy what happens to Kakashi in this chapter

the shadow overlord279: Don't worry you'll see some onscreen development between the 2

Eternity456: More like Azathoth

Guest: You're right about that. Though even in canon verse with all the major villains dead Konoha STILL winds up being destroyed.

Ruberforumfree: If he has an ability that affects the soul than yes (like say... one of the Rinnegan's ability to grasp the soul). Can't say more than that.

KamiKageRyuuketsu: If you don't like it than DON'T READ IT FUCKTARD!

Max Moreno: He's a hermaphrodite NOT a futanari. Physically he's both a man & a woman. Maybe. Also there's no need when he can freely shift between man, woman & in-between.

Gooverly: Yep. Already updated

arckane: Too much consequences

iamjmph01: It has to do with his negative experiences in life as well as his own perspective of himself. Because of the nature of chakra the Blacklight evolve to the point of also being able to affect the spiritual side of things and twisted his soul to match his viewpoint. I've seen a lot of anime where a character's soul became so twisted just by their negative emotions alone.

TheCutestLilPrincess: Yep.

Dominos: Already updated

nitewolf423: That comes much later.

IGT: Not abandoned. Mikoto yes. Yes I am aware that there are A LOT of idiots who don't read the answers.

Zekedavis: Sorry about that. Already fixed

naes151: Sorry that was a mistype.

ArcticWyvern: Sorry about that.

Guest: It's not any intentional Sakura bashing. You gotta admit in canon she is a bit of... well there's no way to put it nicely... a manipulative delusional bitch. Hell a lot of fans ended up preferring Hinata of Sakura. But I and the original author decided to just keep her for convenience sake.

KelpRope: For the love of... IS THERE ANYONE THAT ACTUALLY READ?!

doomqwer: If you look you will see I already added one element to this chapter.

* * *

 _Forest of Death_

 _Near Naruto's Bunker_

Moving silently through the trees, not even rustling the leaves despite their fast pacing.

All of them wore the standard ANBU uniforms yet unlike the usual ANBU they wore blank-faced masks.

These were ROOT, an illegal sect of Shinobi led by Danzo who are essentially the last line of defense for Konoha.

Danzo had conditioned them to completely discard their emotions through brutal training that can easily be mistaken for torture.

Right now they were on a mission, led by Torune Aburame one of Danzo's most trusted men, to investigate and possibly retrieve the missing ROOT nin.

They were actually the backup in case the three were sent needed aid.

They had briefly received a signal calling for help before abruptly cutting off before they could receive the entire message.

The group were eventually forced to travel by ground… which is what already spelled their doom.

Naruto had completely underestimated the evolution & growth rate of Blacklight. Despite knowing the capabilities of Blacklight he kept comparing it to its weaker predecessor Redlight.

Though the area looked completely normal (at least by its usual standards) and uninfected. However Blacklight had already tainted the area.

If the ROOT Anbu had been paying attention they would notice these strange fungi-like growths roughly the size of bird eggs growing around the ground & lower legs of trees. Though then again they actually did not look out of place from the rest of the vegetation, plus the Forest of Death is usually known for its unusual vegetation and animal populace so even if they did examine it they wouldn't find anything unusual about it.

Torune was the first to step on one of these fungi-like growths, causing it to break and release dust-like Blacklight that was so small no one could see it.

The dust, sneakily, went through his clothes traveling around his body yet not making contact. Curiously a considerable amount of his torso was apparently purple; the black dust instantly made contact with the center of his torso leaving a very small black spot on the, otherwise, purple mass of his supposed flesh that was slowly yet surely growing bigger…

* * *

 _Training Ground #4_

The Training Ground was empty, it was one of the more mundane training grounds, with nothing really of note to make it stand out. It seemed Naruto would have to wait. Meh. He could use some more rest anyway.

* * *

 _An hour and a half later_

Naruto was interrupted from another pleasant dream when someone tapped on his shoulder. He stirred awake, and looked up to see Saiyuri, smiling down at him.

"You're here early Naruto. How long have you been here?"

Naruto momentarily dragged a hand across his face and got to his feet.

"I've been here for..." He looked at the Sun and it's position told him what the time was. "An hour and a half. Roughly."

Saiyuri tilted her head, raven strands falling to one side.

"Why were you here for so long?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Cause I could. Kakashi here yet?"

Saiyuri nodded. The gray haired jonin had arrived here roughly when the rest of the soon-to-be team arrived. He refused to wake up Naruto however. Mumbled something about tentacles and 'Icha-Icha-chan'.

"Yep. He's just over there." Pointing to Naruto's left. Naruto looked in the direction of her finger and noticed Kakashi's hair sticking out from behind a tree trunk.

Naruto made a shushing motion towards Saiyuri, a devious look on his face. Saiyuri very lightly giggled and nodded. Naruto walked around to the tree where Kakashi was hiding behind and moved until he was right behind Kakashi.

He seemed to be currently panicking, and quietly whispering to himself,

"Where the hell did Naruto go?! I need to keep my eye on him all the time! Those tentacles of his could be anywhere!" He shuddered at the end of the sentence.

Naruto smirked cruelly, as a particularly thick tendril emerged from his shoulder. It was strangely shaped, with a rounded head. It bore a rather curious resemblance to the human male sex organ for some strange reason.

Naruto directed said tendril until it was a few inches away from Kakashi's rear.

Then he prodded Kakashi.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCKINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

A high-pitched squeal erupted from Kakashi's masked mouth and he proceeded to leap forward a good thirty feet. In his panic, he realizing he would impact into another tree. Unless he used substitution. He was about to utilize it, but something drew his attention back to Naruto. He had a log and was carrying it in his arms. An absolutely terrifying expression was on his face. Those blue-silver eyes had a pinprick of red in them. Daring him to substitute. The choice was clear. He impacted into the tree with enough force to fell it.

Saiyuri was laughing so uncontrollably, tears of mirth were streaming from her eyes.

Sakura, who had just entered the Training Ground, was unfortunate enough to intercept Kakashi on his unplanned flight, and was summarily bowled over into a heap.

Saiyuri was still laughing.

A few minutes later, Saiyuri recovered from the hilarious sight, and assembled with Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi was standing in front of them, idly rubbing his rear end.

"Okay. Now that Naruto has stopped trying to torment me any further..." Said hooded teen glanced at Kakashi at that, eyes glowing a very dull red. Kakashi withheld a shudder and tried to ignore Naruto.

"Let's do this thing. The objective is simple." At that Kakashi pulled out a pair of bells from his right pocket. "All you need to do is get these bells from me."

Sakura noticed that there were only two bells, when there were three of them. Naturally she questioned this.

"Um...Sensei? Why are there only two bells?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. He might be able to get some payback on Naruto. Granted, it was an infinitesimally small chance. But he was willing to take it. He would soon grow to regret it.

"Whoever doesn't get a bell..."

At this Kakashi's eye opened, and narrowed, a serious expression on his (partially visible) face.

"Will not become a genin."

Kakashi then pulled an egg timer and set it for one hour.

"If you don't get the bells from me within the hour, you all fail."

Sakura eyes flew open in horror, and Saiyuri's eyes narrowed. Naruto crossed his arms and spoke up.

"Huh. Well I already know who won't remain in the team." Naruto proceeded to ignore the indignant squawk from Sakura.

Kakashi lost the serious expression and eye-smiled again.

"Right then! Go!"

Sakura and Saiyuri proceeded to run in different directions, with Saiyuri planning an ambush, and Sakura just planning to steal a bell from either Saiyuri or Naruto once they got one.

Naruto remained still. Arms still crossed. His head was tilted lightly to one side, and his eyes were closed.

"Um...Naruto? Shouldn't you be...oh I don't know...running away or something?"

Naruto opened his eyes and made eye contact with Kakashi. Kakashi suddenly found himself rooted into place, he looked down at his ankle, and had a terrifying realization. A thin tendril was currently wrapped around it. He looked at the opposite ankle, and yep. There was another tendril wrapped around it. He looked at Naruto who motioned towards his left foot, and lifted it slightly, revealing a tendril emerging from the sole of his shoe, matching the dimensions of the tendrils wrapped around his ankles, having burrowed into the ground.

Kakashi eye widened at the implications. Naruto was capable of immobilizing an enemy shinobi without them ever noticing. It was a terrifying thought to imagine Naruto out on the battlefield, tendrils whipping around, felling an entire army within minutes.

The tendrils briefly tightened, before releasing and returning to Naruto.

"I already know what this test is meant to do. We're supposed to learn how to work together as a team."

Kakashi's eye widened even more. Naruto already knew what the bell test was for?

"How'd you find out?"

Naruto scoffed lightly.

"It wasn't too difficult to find out. Konoha genin squads always have three members, along with a jonin-sensei. It's practically the main strategy in combat for Konoha shinobi anyway."

Kakashi nodded, pleased at how Naruto so quickly grasped that.

"So are you going to help the others?

He did something that Kakashi wasn't expecting. Naruto shook his head.

"Kakashi. I am not a very good team player. I'm much better as a lone wolf. With a team, my stronger attacks have a chance of them getting caught in between. Alone, I don't need to worry about friendly fire."

Kakashi frowned. It seemed Naruto wasn't as willing to work together with his team as much as he originally thought.

"You do realize that you might very well fail the test because of your unwillingness to work together?"

Then Naruto scoffed again.

"Just cause I don't personally like working with others means I'm going to jeopardize Saiyuri's chances of her getting answers from her brother."

Kakashi lost the frown. Huh. Naruto had more integrity than he originally thought.

Naruto then took on a combat stance, it was foreign to Kakashi, with two clenched fists raised up to chest level, and Naruto was currently on the balls of his feet, constantly raising and lowering himself.

Kakashi responded in kind by pulling out...

An Icha-Icha book.

A vein momentarily pulsed on Naruto's forehead, and decided to show Kakashi why he should really stop underestimating him.

Naruto dashed forward, at a speed Kakashi wasn't expecting, given how his eye widened, and his Claws suddenly appeared on his right hand, and sliced in the general direction and location of the smut book.

Kakashi frantically dodged away, pulling the book close to his chest. He examined it and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see any damage on it. He was about to mock Naruto for his tactically useless frontal assault when the book suddenly dissolved into paper mulch and strips of leather.

Kakashi noticed the odd lack of weight in his arms and looked down.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ICHA-ICHA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The cry of despair was loud enough to reach the Hokage Tower, where Hiruzen got the strange urge to clutch his Icha-Icha book and whisper comforting words to it for some strange reason.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had a devastated look on his face and tears were openly streaming from his eye. He whimpered a little while longer.

"W-Why did you sacrifice yourself for me Icha-Icha-chan? You know I'm not worth it!"

Kakashi proceeded to bawl for a few more seconds, much to Naruto's amusement and slight confusion. Kakashi's eye suddenly blazed, with a fiery determination.

"Don't worry Icha-Icha-chan! I'll make sure your sacrifice wasn't in vain! I'll make the bastard who killed you the greatest pervert ever! So he'll never harm one of your sisters ever!"

Naruto was fairly certain Kakashi was entirely insane at this point and this was coming from someone who could literally eat a person whole in less than one second, and comment on how oddly chewy that person was.

"Uh-huh. Right. Well are you going to attack me now or are you just going to keep crying over that worthless smut?"

Kakashi looked extremely offended at that.

"How dare you insult the memory of Icha-Icha-chan!"

He then proceeded to charge forward, fingers locked in a tiger seal for some reason.

Naruto swiped at him once he got in range, but a successful substitution kept him from giving Kakashi a much-needed haircut.

"SENNIN GOROSHI!"

Wait what?

Naruto never got the chance to further contemplate why Kakashi screamed out that particular phrase before he felt something ram itself rather painfully up his rear.

…

Naruto then disappeared in a cloud of smoke making him realized that he hit a Kage Bunshin.

'Where did-?!"

"Aw Kakashi I didn't you liked me like that."

A very feminine seductive voice sounded behind him causing him to turn around to see Naruto giving him a flirtatious smile.

However he was not fooled in the slightest. Though his words & movements said one thing his eyes said a completely different thing.

"You know if you had just ask I would have gladly fulfilled all of your desires."

Even though he knows for the fact that his sensei's 'son' is actually a girl the tone he had was just so WRONG… plus that wrathful look in 'his' eyes ruined the whole mood.

"If we're going to do this how about I return the favour."

Ten tentacles emerged from his back, each the size & shape of a very large... thing, covered in tiny dangerous looking barbs, and at each tip a very long thin needle.

All the blood drained from Kakashi's face.

"OHSHIT!OHSHIT!OHSHIT!OSHIT!"

He turned tail and run, which was a BIG mistake as that left a certain part of him completely exposed.

Instantly all the tentacles plunged.

 **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"**

* * *

 _Hokage's Office_

Hiruzen had a splitting grin in his face, why…? Because he had nearly finished all his accursed paperwork, that's why!

Now all he needs is to sign this last document and then…

 **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"**

All the glass broke (as well as possibly his hearing) as well as the ink bottle which ended up spraying ink all over his paperwork.

Hiruzen stared at his ruined paperwork with twitching eyes.

'SON OF A FUCKMOTHERING COCK-SUCKING-!'

* * *

 _Otogakure_

 _Orochimaru's lab_

The Snake Sannin himself was currently working on one of his experiments again though there was something different about it… and about him.

He seemed far more focused on this experiment and there was something in his eyes that was… unsettling, even more than usual. Next to him was some sort of book that reeked of wrongness & madness.

 **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Orochimaru was startled out of his experiment by the high-pitched scream before wincing, recognizing it.

'That poor, poor fool…'

He couldn't help but feel sympathy for the victim that suffered the same fate he did a long time ago…

'Eh, better him than me.'

* * *

 _Naruto's Bunker_

As the Infected were scouting the perimeter Hera could be seen wearing that white sundress relaxing on her bed enjoying the day as she waited for Naruto to return

 **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Startled, she fell off the bed and all of the Infected were on high alert thinking an enemy was intruding once more.

She had no idea why… but she suddenly felt very proud of Naruto for some reason.

* * *

 _Unknown_

 _Hot Springs_

The Toad Sannin, often known as the world's largest pervert yet at the same time known as the best Spymaster, was doing what he does best… peeping on some bathing women for his book series.

He was on top of the highest tree, hidden by the branches as he watched some women bathing, writing furiously in his notebook, giggling like a depraved school girl until

 **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Nearly having a heart attack from that awful screech he ended up falling off the branch and into the hot springs.

Emerging out of the water he was now glared upon by a bunch of angry women.

"Now come on ladies can't we all just talk and clear out this misunderstanding?"

"Die pervert!"

Coincidently they were all high Jonin-level kunoichi who still had all their kunai (no idea where they hid it though).

The entire area was filled the painful screams of a cowardly pervert.

* * *

Saiyuri & Sakura couldn't help but stare blankly at the sight before them.

Kakashi was laying on the ground, his eyes rolled back so much that they were completely white, foam spilling out of his mask and his body occasionally twitching from whatever trauma he suffered.

As if to put the cherry on the cake Naruto was currently straddling him with a satisfied expression.

It made Saiyuri want to plunge a kunai into her sensei's heart.

"Um… Naruto what did you do?"

Sakura asked uncertainly.

Naruto turned his, before lifting his hand showing the two bells.

"All I did was retrieving the bells, that's all."

His grin unsettled them, especially Sakura. Though Saiyuri for some reason felt… slightly aroused.

He then got off Kakashi and started walking away.

"Tell Kakashi that if he doesn't pass us, I'll give him the same treatment only with twenty."

Kakashi's body twitched even more to the point it seemed he was having a seizure.

* * *

 _Konoha Village limits, 4:10 AM_

The shed that concealed the entrance to the Root HQ was a half-mile from Konoha, due west. The shed itself was decrepit, with the planks that made it up rotting and some seemed to hang loosely from the walls. The door itself was also loose, and closed and opened in the wind.

It was located in a forest that been ravaged by a wildfire, and most of the trees around were just burnt husks, with no leaves. It made the place look somewhat eerie.

* * *

 _Root HQ, Danzo's office_

Danzo Shimura had lost more Root agents in the past five years, than he lost in the Ame incident. It was more than frustrating, those agents sent to investigate the Uzumaki child were some of his best men and women, more than capable of battling toe-to-toe with the stronger of Konoha's Jonin, like Kakashi Hatake, and Maito Gai at least for a short while.

Danzo suspected that Uzumaki somehow managed to eliminate them, but how was that possible? When he first started sending agents to monitor him, Uzumaki was only an Academy student, second-best behind Saiyuri, but still just a brat with no experience whatsoever in combat.

The disappearances of multiple civilians during Uzumaki's childhood, only served to further deepen the mystery behind Uzumaki.

Hiruzen, the idealistic fool he was, had concealed the parentage of Uzumaki from almost everyone, only revealing it to those who shared a very close bond to his successor, the Yondaime. Kakashi Hatake, and the Yondaime's personal bodyguards, with Aoba Yamashiro and Gekko Hayate being the surviving two out of the original four members.

The Yondaime was more than likely Uzumaki's father, with Kushina Uzumaki, the previous jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, being his mother. But it still didn't explain Naruto's combat proficiency. Where had he gotten the experience, and who trained him?

Danzo would have considered these questions further however he had other concerns to deal with.

He, and his personal doctors, were currently examining the two surviving ROOT agents who looked extremely sick. When Torune had arrived with his two surviving teams the reports he received from him were… disturbing to say the least.

It sounded a lot like they ran into some of Orochimaru's leftover experiments, judging from Torune's descriptions, as they were too unnatural to be creatures from the Forest of Death. Except these beasts were MUCH stronger than anything that his ROOT shinobi had ever had to faced.

There are protocols meant for Orochimaru's experiments yet from the descriptions they would be completely useless against these breeds of monsters.

However that was not the worst of it.

His two surviving agents were seemingly infected by some type of poison and so far nothing they had could currently cure it.

All they could was watch as the victims' veins turn black and wait for the inevitable death that will come to them.

Of course what they had not realize was that the two victims were carrying the very end of ROOT inside them.

* * *

Torune was at the moment struggling with something.

Ever since managing to survive his latest mission his rinkaichū have been acting off. They have been very slow to respond to demands and at times they just outright refuse to listen.

Another odd thing is that his rinkaichū are consuming far less of his chakra than usual yet at the same time he felt more exhausted than normal.

"Torune…"

Fū Yamanaka, another of Danzo's most trusted ROOT member, had noticed his partner seemed quite out of it. Despite appearing physically fine Torune appeared… weakened, for lack of better words. There was a possibility that he was poisoned like the other two subordinates and it was just delaying.

As such it was his duty to make sure none of Danzo's subordinates would be affected by something that will impede their performance in missions.

"Fū, what are you doing here?"

He was confused on why his partner was in his room.

"I came to make sure you are alright…"

He walked forward till he was at an arm distance.

"After all we cannot have-!"

He didn't get to finish as he suddenly coughed out some blood.

He looked down to see that Torune had punched through his chest like wet paper.

As he looked up to his partner's face, he could see that he was just as shocked as he was if not more so.

His arm then ripped out of his chest, the last thing he saw before he died was his still-beating heart.

Poor Torune didn't have time to register the fact he killed a comrade before noticing the sleeve & glove on his arm dissolved revealing that it was entirely covered in his rinkaichū. They then swarmed around the heart devouring it and leaving nothing left.

His body was then filled with pain, pain that simply grew till he had no choice but to scream.

His entire clothing dissolved leaving his entire body bare and showing his rinkaichū enveloping his flesh.

It came to a point that that his entire head was covered, not even his hair, eyes or mouth were spared, muffling his screams till they were completely silenced.

It looked like he was wearing a skin tight purple suit. The black splotch that was at the center of his back, grew to extreme lengths until the entire suit was now black.

The body hunched a bit and stood completely still, not even a twitch or a whimper.

Eventually two slits appeared on the 'face' before opening up revealing two large jagged menacing white things that could only be eyes.

A mouth then formed with an elongated jaw with two rows of large fangs.

The thing smiled before letting out a terrifying screech.

Danzo's visible eye widened significantly. His two subordinates that were thought to be dead were suddenly spasming as if they were being electrocuted.

The doctors tried everything they could to calm them down from sedatives, electro shocks, to just about tying them up but nothing worked.

Black liquid was pouring out of them and they started screaming in pain.

Much to his shock he saw their bodies squirming, as if something was moving inside them.

Eventually that something decided to get out, and rather violently at that. With the first victim something instantly ripped through his back making the death quite painful & gruesome. The second way of death wasn't any better as the thing decided to crawl through its victim's throat instead.

Danzo could not get a good look at the two things on account of them being completely covered by black liquid.

The things shake off the liquid revealing spiky black fur. One could easily mistake them for young pups… except there was something WRONG with them.

Their fur was so dark that it didn't reflect any light, sported long sharp claws, and seemingly have bio-luminescent "glowing" eyes.

They seem to be staring at their surroundings with curiosity, Danzo & his subordinates also staring at them only with confusion and unsure what to do about this situation.

'Orochimaru just how far have gone with your experiments?'

Despite Orochimaru being considered the greatest scientist in all of the Elemental Nations, he is actually a complete failure at science.

Just about every single one of Orochimaru's experiments have ended in COMPLETE & utter failure with all of them resulting in insanity & death and nothing to really show for it.

Even Danzo's new arm is a failure; though the procedure was a success he needed to keep a seal on it do to how unstable it is and when unsealed he could only use its mokuton ability for a short while as he risked having the arm consuming and turning him into a tree.

It was the main reason he has so many Sharingan eyes implanted on the arm (the use of Izanagi was a safety measure in case things got worse) as the arm will have most of its chakra drained by the eyes.

The Cursed Marks didn't really count as that was more of a combination Fuinjutsu & Senjutsu.

But this! This was the creation of a new lifeform. He would be ecstatic except if these really are Orochimaru's experiments then, no matter how much of a success they are, things were going to get ugly.

Wouldn't you know that's exactly what's about to happen.

Both beasts, their fur spiking up making them look twice their size, and their eyes… no… their MOUTHS opened up revealing a mouth filled with nothing but glowing fangs.

The beasts let out a loud roar before lunging at the nearest victims, ripping out their throats and clawing at their torsos like wet tissue paper.

"Contain these beasts."

Danzo calmly ordered, used to these situations.

The room was sealed preventing the ones still inside from escaping as they are torn apart.

Gas was released into the room (not harmful as he still wanted to study these things).

This gas was specifically made to deal with Orochimaru's experiments. Unfortunately that meant it would automatically kill any normal lifeforms.

Much to his shock, instead of instantly knocking these things out, it simply annoyed them and they seemed to be… glaring at him?

They ignored their playthings and charged at the glass wall banging into it with great strength.

Luckily the glass held.

Danzo was truly lost on what to do with these creatures. He had greatly underestimated them.

As the ROOT members were running down the hallways, preparing for whatever emergency has arrived, none have noticed the infected Torune(?) climbing up the walls akin to a spider.

He could sense all the chaos created by its… siblings? And it was greatly enjoying it.

One ROOT nin ran close by allowing the Infected to snatch him and devour his head.

So many meals, so little time.

It was time to cause its own brand of chaos.

Danzo frowned as he heard the sounds of fighting.

Someone had managed to infiltrate his base while he was distracted by these beasts.

He could hear the sounds of fighting, of jutsus being unleashed, and the horrible screech of an inhuman monster.

He narrowly dodged a corpse thrown at him, the force being enough to cause a crack on the glass wall behind him.

The being could not be called human despite its shape. It had black tendrils growing out of its body, some of them still holding onto its dead victims; its entire skin was black with no genitalia yet had a male figure; its eyes were too large and white; and its mouth was impossibly big filled to the brim with large fangs.

It would take some time before the other ROOT agents arrived as all the nearest ones were dead.

Danzo immediately reacted and called out a jutsu.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

Danzo deeply inhaled and spat out a ball of whirling wind at the intruder. The jutsu never struck.

The black beast suddenly moved forward at an inhumanly high speed, faster than the Yondaime Raikage ever could, and bent at an impossible angle, letting the ball of wind pass harmless above him. Within the blink of an eye, the beast was suddenly in front of Danzo.

Danzo never got the chance to unlock the seals before a clawed hand suddenly descended on his head and gripped with skull-crushing force.

Instead of killing him it simply stared at him curiously.

Danzo had no idea why it hasn't killed him yet, but this was his chance to perhaps gain a new weapon, even with the risks.

"Kotoamatsukami."

The Beast flinched before glaring at Danzo murderously.

Danzo was struck with horror.

'How? How could this thing resist the strongest genjutsu?'

Forgetting about his ambitions, he realized that he must warn the Sandaime of this thing along with the other monsters.

He may be cruel, cold, arrogant, power-hungry, and greedy, but it was overshadowed by his love for his village.

Before he could so much as move a finger, a tendril stabbed through his good hand.

Its face writhe before seemingly opening up revealing Torune's face who looked like he was already dead.

Danzo was completely horrified seeing his best agent at this state.

"… What are you?"

Instead of answering, it plunged two tendrils into Danzo's eyes causing him to cry out in pain before more tendrils wrapped around his body.

The Beast's body writhe, before it… removed itself from Torune's dry shrivelled corpse and tossed it aside.

It now completely enveloped Danzo's body.

The creature squirmed before screaming in seemingly pain. It grew bigger, with larger muscles, its fangs became larger to the point of no longer being able to properly close its mouth, the skin became more flesh like and white veins appeared all over its body.

The transformation stopped and the creature now looked more beastly, more demonic, more… alien.

 **"We… are… VENOM!"**

It screeched out.

Finally the two black beasts broke out of their containment and started rampaging across the base all the while Venom grinned insanely.

* * *

 _Root HQ Entrance_

Naruto couldn't help but stare curiously at what he was seeing.

For some reason he felt something compelling him to come here.

Yet whatever compelled him was gone now.

He arrived too late.

He can smell the burnt flesh and blood.

It seem someone came and finished Danzo & ROOT off before he could.

A shame.

Unaware of Venom watching him through the trees by the time he sensed someone watching him it was already gone, escaping down into the sewers with the rest of its brethren.

* * *

 _Konoha Academy 7:30 AM_

The Hokage Tower...well, towered above the rest of the building of Konoha. And Naruto was on a warpath. Naruto would refer to it later as a leisurely stroll. Anyone unfortunate enough to be intersect with him would swiftly find themselves bowled over by Naruto. Even a slight bump of the shoulders would make even particularly portly people stumble.

Naruto was just about to enter the Tower when Mizuki's voice called out from behind him.

"Wait, Naruto!"

Naruto ignored Mizuki.

"Please! Just wait up!"

Naruto deeply sighed. He debated the consequences of having Mizuki choke on his own eyeballs. Well...Ah fuck it.

"Mizuki." Naruto turned around, blue-silver eyes rooting Mizuki in place. "The fuck do you want?"

The white haired chunin shivered lightly and gathered his courage.

"You just completed the teamwork test with your jonin-sensei right?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Where was Mizuki going with this?

At seeing Naruto nod, Mizuki seemed to become strangely chipper.

"You know you can get extra credit right?

Naruto didn't like where Mizuki was going with this, but decided to play along, perfectly feigning confusion.

Mizuki seemed to notice Naruto's confusion, and elaborated.

"It's simple, a new kinjutsu has been identified and needs to be added to the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. It's at the Hokage Residence, but I'm certain Hokage-sama isn't there."

Mizuki grinned internally. The Demon of Konoha would be eliminated today, and he'd get the seal to his true Kage, Orochimaru-sama. If he played his cards right of course.

"Just go in, get the Scroll, and get back to me. I'll be waiting west of the village, at its limits."

Did Mizuki honestly think Naruto was some naive, stars-in-their-eyes, green as fucking grass genin? Naruto was sorely tempted to just reach out and pluck Mizuki's eyes from their sockets. But, again, logic managed to calm that bestial instinct to kill any potential threats.

If the Hokage knew of this potential traitor, then Naruto was free to eliminate the traitor in any way he saw fit. After all, he would be executing said traitor, and acting in the name of Konoha, in their eye's at least.

Naruto nodded.

"Alright sure. I'll get this Scroll."

As Naruto turned away, Mizuki began to grin outwardly as well.

Such a fool.

Naruto never really went towards the Hokage Residence, it was just a bio-clone. The real Naruto had entered the Hokage Tower and blew past the secretary who attempted to tell him that the Hokage was meeting with the jonin-senseis, but she was ignored.

* * *

 _Hokage Office_

Hiruzen steepled his fingers and asked in an authoritative voice.

"Those of you who have been assigned genin squads, tell me whether or not they passed. Hayate Gekko, you are first."

Hayate was a man in his mid-twenties, with an overall sickly appearance. With pale skin, dark brown hair, and dark markings under his eyes. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit.

"Team 1, fail." He coughed lightly afterward.

"Aoba Yamashiro."

He was of similar age to Hayate, with black spiky hair, and the Konoha hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead, keeping his bangs from falling in front of his eyes. Said sensory organs were obscured by red-framed sunglasses. Like Hayate, he wore the standard shinobi outfit.

"Team 2, fail."

Teams 3 through 6 all failed. It was expected. The Konoha Academy Curriculum had deteriorated with this unusually long period of peace. Said deterioration was the result of the Civilian Committee, who reasoned that their children should be able to attend the Academy and have a good chance of passing. Hiruzen was never able to confirm it, but there was suspicion of Committee members threatening teachers with blackmail, and lawsuits.

Hiruzen would have found and eradicated these individuals who would dare attempt and undermine Konoha's military strength but the Kyuubi attack had halted these efforts before they ever truly began.

Even now, 16 years after the attack, Konoha had not fully recovered it's full military strength.

Hopefully, the next three teams would bolster Konoha's future ranks, since they consisted mainly of clan heirs, and the child used to seal the Kyuubi away.

That brought up another issue. Naruto had graduated fully and was likely going to burst through those doors at any moment demanding his past be revealed to him. And Hiruzen was afraid. Of how Naruto would react, if he would suffer any more damage to his already scarred psyche.

Hiruzen had kept so many secrets from Naruto, all at the behest of his father, Minato. Minato's reasoning was that Naruto may become arrogant with that knowledge. Hiruzen knew so much better. The contempt that Naruto had for Minato would reach a new high, and Naruto would likely grow to despise the village.

But that was an issue to be dealt with in the future. He looked to Kakashi, and noticed his left cheek was oddly swollen. Had he been bruised?

"Kakashi Hatake."

Kakashi shivered and what he said sent shockwaves throughout the collected jonins.

"Team 7, pass."

The entirety of the room, save Hiruzen, all looked at Kakashi in varying degrees of shock.

Kakashi Hatake? Pass a team?

Hiruzen noticed how the jonins were reacting to Kakashi but wasn't too surprised. With Naruto's odd abilities, his friendship with the Uchiha Heiress, along with his' unparalleled expertise in taijutsu, matched only by Maito Gai, was likely the deciding factor in the test.

"Good. Kurenai Yuuhi."

Kurenai was a woman in her late twenties. She was fairly tall, with a slender frame, and possessed pale skin, along with raven black untamed hair that fell to her shoulders, she wore a rather odd outfit. A red mesh armor blouse, with only the right sleeve attached. Bandages were wrapped around her forearms, and upper thighs. She possessed unique red eyes, with a single ring within them.

"Team 8, pass."

Team 9 failed, which drew a tired sigh from Hiruzen, before he turned his attention to his son, Asuma.

Asuma Sarutobi was a tall man, with spiky black hair, brown eyes, and a bronzed tan. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, with the only thing of note being a white sash wrapped around his waist, bearing the kanji of 'fire' on it, as well a pair of black bangles on his wrists, and bandages wrapped around his biceps. He was idly chewing on an unlit cigarette.

"Team 10, pass."

Hiruzen was about to ask whether Team 11 passed, but the doors to his office were suddenly opened with enough force to knock one off its hinges, with the loose door, slowly falling inwards to the Office.

A tall feminine figure was in the doorway, with hands in the pockets of her white hoodie.

Hiruzen slowly dragged a hand across his face, mentally preparing himself for the shitstorm that was brewing.

"Wha?! Hey! You can't be in here...!" The chunin who attempted to stop Naruto was swatted away like a particularly annoying fly.

"Hey Old Man Hokage."

The Sandaime sighed.

"Hello Naruto."

The hooded blond walked forwards, completely ignoring the disapproving looks that the majority of the jonin sent to him. He reached the front of the Hokage's desk.

"I've graduated old man. Our promise?"

Hiruzen steeled himself.

"Yes. Yes, of course. You're all dismissed."

The jonins all filed out.

"I suggest you get a chair Naruto. You'll want to be seated for what I'm going to say. Anbu, you can leave us."

The hidden Anbu, having concealed themselves in the darkest corners of the rafters, dropped down, and exited the room.

The hooded blonde steeled himself as well. This would make or break the multitude of theories he had come up with about his past. More than likely, the worst ones would be the closest to the truth.

The Sandaime sighed deeply, and his shoulders sagged, his age clearly showing itself. The Sandaime was no more. There was now an old and very tired man sitting in that chair.

"I know you likely have already suspected this, but it is true. You are the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki."

Naruto's shoulders slumped, as much as he wanted to try and deny that truth, it was always niggling in the back of his mind. Hearing it confirmed, brought a contradicting sense of relief, and sadness.

"Anything else I should know?" Blue-silver eyes stared up at Hiruzen, the trauma and pain kept concealed was now obvious, the usually faintly glowing eyes were now dull, and so very tired. Much like Hiruzen's own. It brought another stab of guilt to the old man's heart.

"Your father..." Hiruzen hesitated for a moment, and Naruto seemed to brace himself, as one would brace for a punch or kick.

"Is Minato Namikaze. The Yondaime Hokage."

And there it was. The horrible truth. One that Naruto so desperately hoped beyond all hopes wasn't true.

Naruto reacted in a way that had Hiruzen immediately brace himself.

Naruto's shoulders slumped, his hooded dropped down, and he was staring at the ground. His hands had clenched into fists and were trembling. Tendrils had emerged from Naruto's back and were flailing about, striking anything in range, Hiruzen excluded. The pictures of the Hokage's were knocked off their mounts on the walls, and deep slashes were gouged out of the walls themselves.

Hiruzen ducked underneath his desk as a very large tentacle came sweeping past. And as suddenly as the barrage of tentacles came, it went. The lethal tendrils returned to Naruto's back, and he slumped forward.

Hiruzen peeked over the top of his desk, it was an amusing sight, seeing the man once proclaimed "The God of Shinobi" hiding from a recently made genin would have drawn quite a few laughs from others. But no-one was laughing here.

Naruto had straightened again and had a hand across his face. He dragged the hand down slowly his face. His eyes were now a dull red.

"Of fucking course he is. Tell me one thing. Why did he choose me, his son, over all the other children born that day?"

Hiruzen swallowed lightly and answered.

"Your father was a noble ma..."

 **"BULLSHIT!"**

Naruto had suddenly leaped to his feet, eyes now blazing a solid red, there were no identifiable irises, pupils or sclerae.

 **"MY DUMBASS OF A FATHER CHOSE THE VILLAGE OVER HIS OWN FAMILY! IF THE FUCKER WASN'T ALREADY DEAD, I'D TEAR HIS GODDAMN THROAT OUT! DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK OF HIM IN A POSITIVE LIGHT AROUND ME!"**

Naruto roared out in an inhuman voice, with multiple other voices, feminine and masculine, echoed behind his words.

Hiruzen was literally blasted backwards from the force of Naruto's voice, with the windows of the office being blown out as well. He impacted very roughly against the wall behind him, and crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

"N-Naruto...Wha-What other choice did h-he have?" Hiruzen would regret saying that. As Naruto stalked over to his fallen form, shifted his Claws onto his right hand, wrapped said Claws around Hiruzen's head, and lifted him as though he weighed nothing.

 **"Minato Namikaze was an utter fool."** Naruto droned out, with the voices still following his own. **"He should be glad he is trapped in the Shinigami's stomach, for I would destroy him entirely. I would force upon him, every memory of my innocence being burned away, and my childhood falling down around my ears."**

Hiruzen desperately pounded against the steel Claws wrapped around his skull, in a vain effort to free himself, the Claws shifted until they wrapped around his throat. Not hard enough to choke, but enough to make breathing difficult.

 **"Tell me. Who is my mother?"**

Hiruzen, unable to muster enough breath to speak, pointed towards his desk, a manila folder with a familiar swirl design on it. Naruto released Hiruzen, letting him drop roughly to the floor, an Anbu attempted to re-enter the room, having noticed that the Hokage was in danger, but was sent flying backwards from a well-placed tendril to the stomach. More tendrils slammed the remaining door shut, and picked up the fallen door, put it back in place, and braced against the doors, a force that not even Maito Gai could overcome.

Naruto picked up the folder and opened it.

The file within was of a red-haired woman who was strangely familiar to Naruto. Why did he feel as though he once saw her before?

The answer came in the form of a piercing headache, enough to make Naruto have to grip his forehead, but not enough to weaken the tendrils bracing the doors.

A memory came roaring back.

* * *

 _Naruto's memory_

 _A blinding light._

 _The sound of a baby crying, it was close, then Naruto realized it was himself._

 _"Congratulations Kushina!"_

 _Kushina...The name of the red-haired woman. Was she...?_

 _He was suddenly brought up to the face of said woman. Her smile shone brightly, even with her tear-stained cheeks. His eyes locked with hers. A wonderful blue-gray._

 _"...My little Naruto..."_

 _The memory suddenly leapt forward, and the Kyuubi was visible now. He was lying on a soft cushion, and a strange array of ritualistic material surrounded him. Candles, the like._

 _He looked to his left and saw Minato with the Shinigami behind him._

 _"SHIKI FUUIN!"_

 _The seal on his stomach that plagued him for as long as he remembered appeared._

 _Minato's body suddenly rapidly decomposed, as the Shinigami pulled out Minato's soul, bringing it to it's mouth, and consuming it. A faint blue light shining through its throat._

 _The Kyuubi seemed to recognize the threat, and attempted to kill Naruto, an immense claw speeding towards him. Then the unthinkable happened._

 _Kushina, his mother suddenly leapt in front of the claw's path and was impaled._

 _A cry of agony, and crimson blood spewed out from where the claw exited her chest. Naruto felt the red fluid splatter against him._

 _Kushina reached out, lightly, and lovingly, dragging a finger across his cheek. She attempted to speak, but all that came out was more blood._

 _Kushina went limp and fell to the ground after the Kyuubi was sealed away inside himself._

 _He could hear himself speak._

 _"Mama?"_

* * *

 _End of memory_

Naruto gasped in pain, and was brought to a knee. The tendrils that kept the Anbu from entering, slackened, and the doors began to open slightly.

That was it. That was where it all started. One of Naruto's first memories was of seeing his mother die before his very eyes. He hadn't even been an hour old.

* * *

 _Naruto's mindscape_

Red slitted eyes peered out in confusion and curiosity from the golden bars of it's cage.

It seemed it's host had finally remembered the events that led to it being sealed inside said host.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune had at long last, awakened within Naruto.

* * *

Author's Notes

Hello everyone!

Finally got this chapter out of the way.

Now here we are introduced to new types of infected, one of them being... VENOM! Its first appearance was somewhat based on the one from Spiderman 3 and its current appearance is based on the one from Venom

The black beasts' birth is based on the birth of the Neomorphs from Alien Covenant while they themselves are based on the aliens from Attack the Block

His suspicions are finally confirmed and his hatred for Minato has increased.

Anyway until next time;)


End file.
